I hope you noticed what happened this past weekend. As a potential coup raged in Russia, it was hard to find reliable information about it. Under Elon Musk, Twitter has wiped out the reliability of verified accounts. As the Russians eliminated all their independent media accounts in the past few years, Twitter became a reliable source of information.
I assume you are correct in your assessments because I was banned from twitter. Something to do with Hate Speech? because i repeated a line that I read about democrats causing most of the gun violence in America. One non-violent comment, no warnings, just banned for life with appeals that don't even work.
At this point, I don't even care what happens to that company...I get my important info from Erick.
The other day I responded to a Tweet that showed a little girl holding a sign that read Queers against Islamophobia. My first thought was child abuse. But I replied back pointing out that Muslims kill gays in many countries. That got me put in Twitter time out because I violated their rules against hateful conduct, specifically promoting violence against <insert protected class of choice>. Not sure if a bot got me or someone reported it. I appealed and was immediately reinstated, but it was a little disconcerting that my comment was construed as hate speech and promoting violence.
I noticed Elon Musks is informing farmers about C02 . I know God hasn’t told Elon how much CO2 is required to stop extreme heat and Cold. CO2 is a shield of Earth and it belongs to God.Psalms 47:8-9 ESV
Erick, you are never going to get accurate info in a war zone other than careful analysis of verifiable information. Things move too quickly and the ability to access accurate data becomes difficult. By the time you verify a fact (let's say it takes 2 hours) things may have changed on the battlefield to make your verification meaningless.
David Sachs does not know much about combat or weapons systems. I doubt Musk does either.
What we do know is that a small country with limited warfighting capabilities was able to halt and reverse much of Russia's military strategy. Why?
In the 1970s, the US realized the T72 tank was a superior weapon. Further, the Russians had 5 T72s to our one main battle tank. NATO had to find a solution. The US Army Missile command started developing handheld antitank guided missiles. The javelin is the modern system from that development work. In the 1980s we started developing smart munitions. This was just spending money on sensor technology to improve the ability to guide a missile to the intended target. The well know system was the Stinger missile we gave to the Afghans to shoot down Russian aircraft. Please understand, the sensor tech used in the eighties is far superior in today's version of these systems, which increases their lethality.
In all these efforts, mirrored by many other efforts in the US Military, we focused on a concept called lethality. Lethality is the probability of destroying a target once I identify the target. A perfect example is the Excaliber Artillery shell. It has high accuracy, which means it will hit a spot within a few feet of its target selection. So, one 155MM Excaliber shell can hit a 10-foot diameter point eighteen miles away. Meanwhile a standard Russian 155 MM shell will have an, at best, an accuracy of ten yards. The Ukrainians can fire one Excalibur shell and destroy the opposing Russian artillery system. The Russians would need to fire ten shells to destroy the Ukrainian artillery system.
In short, the Ukrainians are using highly lethal weapons systems that give them an advantage over the larger number of Russian forces. Will this advantage allow the Ukrainians to penetrate Russian defensive positions? I don't know. It will take a lot of time and effort. But clearly Russia is not going to gain any new territory and they will slowly lose territory over the next 12 months.
By this time next year, we will know if the Ukrainians were able to take the east bank of the Dnieper river and push the Russian back into Crimean and out of Luhansk and Donetsk. Can the Ukrainians retake Mariupol? I do not know. But one thing is true, there will be a lot of fighting in Ukraine over the next 12 months. This whole debate about Twitter, Facebook, Meta, Russia etc., is meaningless when you look at the reality of the fighting in Ukraine.
Besides, the time you have spent reading the news, forming your thoughts, authoring this email, me reading this email and writing my response while gathering my own background info has taken 3 days. During this time the reality on the front line has changed. By the time you have read my response (if at all) you will have prepared your talking points today, spent 3 hours on the radio and another 24 hours will have passed. What will have changed on the battlefield?
You are wasting your breath on this topic.
It is better focusing on the fact that the Patriot System is successful in intercepting Russian weapons systems. You also must throw in all the other older systems we have sent to Ukraine.. A 40 year old Germany 30MM radar controlled anti air system is quite effective against Iranian drones. We are sending in 40 year old HAWK anti air defense systems. Every country in the world is watching this and every miliary in the world has people in Ukraine watching the battles. Everyone can clearly see that modern warfare is far different going forward. China is learning they are not as prepared to exert dominance as they recently believed.
The Civil War in America taught many countries the importance of railways in managing logistical challenges in war. Likewise, the Ukraine war is going to teach alot of countries what they need to do to survive.
We have spent roughly $100 billion to arm Ukraine. This invest has destroyed the Russian military. I think it was a good investment. BTW, my cousin (US Army Artillery officer) was training Ukrainian artillery units in Ukraine about 5 years ago. The US military has been working with the Ukranian military for many years. We have had people on the ground observing the Russian military operations in Ukraine since they invaded in 2014. This war is something our Military has not been thinking about for a decade. We have been preparing to fight the Russian military for over 50 years.
You ask for fairness and balanced reporting from the gentleman who (to date) has funded CTCL, CEIR, and the CZI? Eqrly Monday morning naivete. How refreshing.
Anyone who is interested in ensuring fair elections in the US should.
CTCL = Center for Technology and Civic Life, the Zuckerberg/Chan initiative that dispensed a couple hundred million Zuckerbucks to swing districts in time for the 2020 voting
CEIR = Center for Election Innovation and Research, a second such initiative run by the same two folks, whose stated mission is to improve accessibility to ballots for voters who otherwise may not vote in person
CZI = Chan Zuckerberg Initiative ... Their mission statement reproduced here from their own website: "We’re on an ambitious mission to solve some of society’s toughest challenges — from eradicating disease to improving education and addressing the needs of our local communities." Sounds like classic liberalism ... or full throttle DEI wokeism, you choose.
First if the real media did its job and report on the new with no bias we would not have to get the news from social media.
Second can you be anti-Ukrainian war without being pro Putin? I would just like to know where all this money is going that we are throwing at them. Does anyone have a running total?
I'm not a twitter user so maybe I shouldn't have an opinion.
A few notes...who cares if Twitter is a good source for news out of Russia? I am genuinely asking, for 90% of users that see Twitter as a place to engage it petty verbal spats, what does it matter? Does Elon have any obligation to cultivate an environment where 10% of users are happy they have reliable sources for news out of Russia?
Twitter is like anything else...a platform. Just as on any platform users that care should find sources they trust and follow those. A new "blue check" shows up claiming something wild...who cares?
Why does an American social-media company have to worry about being the source for accurate, up to the minute global news?
I think I speak for most Americans when I say that I am perfectly fine finding out what is happening in Russia 72 or 96 hours after the fact. In fact I was fine going all weekend unaware anything was happening in Russia, and I stay pretty tapped in to the news.
For the record, I don't use Twitter. I didn't pre-Elon and still don't. It sucked then, seems to still suck now. Couldn't get accurate information then, seems you can't get accurate info now.
I will defer to Mr. Erickson as to how much Elon Musk is parroting pro-Putin and anti-Ukraine talking points. While there are many political leaders in Ukraine that support Russia, it seems that many in Ukraine (including many leaders) want to align with the west. So, while I certainly want to be good stewards with our money, I think pro-western Ukrainians deserve our support.
Having admitted that about myself, I would like to say that there are many Americans on the right who are so opposed to anything Biden is doing that they will come close to echoing those same talking points that Musk promotes. They even act like fiscal hawks when I know for a fact they never cared about national debt in the past.
China has been running around the globe buying influence in Africa and South America (along with mines that yield the materials required for EV batteries). Meanwhile, we have been turning our backs on our allies and people who want to be closer to us all around that same globe.
Trump was very clear. He wanted us to not be engaged in anything outside our borders (slight exaggeration?). Think: Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Kurds.... The list goes on. By pulling back, America has created a vaccuum in the world. China is filling it. We will pay the price (think: Influence, battery materials, de-dollarization, etc.)
I assume you are correct in your assessments because I was banned from twitter. Something to do with Hate Speech? because i repeated a line that I read about democrats causing most of the gun violence in America. One non-violent comment, no warnings, just banned for life with appeals that don't even work.
At this point, I don't even care what happens to that company...I get my important info from Erick.
The other day I responded to a Tweet that showed a little girl holding a sign that read Queers against Islamophobia. My first thought was child abuse. But I replied back pointing out that Muslims kill gays in many countries. That got me put in Twitter time out because I violated their rules against hateful conduct, specifically promoting violence against <insert protected class of choice>. Not sure if a bot got me or someone reported it. I appealed and was immediately reinstated, but it was a little disconcerting that my comment was construed as hate speech and promoting violence.
I noticed Elon Musks is informing farmers about C02 . I know God hasn’t told Elon how much CO2 is required to stop extreme heat and Cold. CO2 is a shield of Earth and it belongs to God.Psalms 47:8-9 ESV
Are we looking for fair, balanced and accurate reporting from social media? Not in this decade...maybe the next.
Erick,
You forgot to add, "And good luck in your cage match against Elon."
Erick, you are never going to get accurate info in a war zone other than careful analysis of verifiable information. Things move too quickly and the ability to access accurate data becomes difficult. By the time you verify a fact (let's say it takes 2 hours) things may have changed on the battlefield to make your verification meaningless.
David Sachs does not know much about combat or weapons systems. I doubt Musk does either.
What we do know is that a small country with limited warfighting capabilities was able to halt and reverse much of Russia's military strategy. Why?
In the 1970s, the US realized the T72 tank was a superior weapon. Further, the Russians had 5 T72s to our one main battle tank. NATO had to find a solution. The US Army Missile command started developing handheld antitank guided missiles. The javelin is the modern system from that development work. In the 1980s we started developing smart munitions. This was just spending money on sensor technology to improve the ability to guide a missile to the intended target. The well know system was the Stinger missile we gave to the Afghans to shoot down Russian aircraft. Please understand, the sensor tech used in the eighties is far superior in today's version of these systems, which increases their lethality.
In all these efforts, mirrored by many other efforts in the US Military, we focused on a concept called lethality. Lethality is the probability of destroying a target once I identify the target. A perfect example is the Excaliber Artillery shell. It has high accuracy, which means it will hit a spot within a few feet of its target selection. So, one 155MM Excaliber shell can hit a 10-foot diameter point eighteen miles away. Meanwhile a standard Russian 155 MM shell will have an, at best, an accuracy of ten yards. The Ukrainians can fire one Excalibur shell and destroy the opposing Russian artillery system. The Russians would need to fire ten shells to destroy the Ukrainian artillery system.
In short, the Ukrainians are using highly lethal weapons systems that give them an advantage over the larger number of Russian forces. Will this advantage allow the Ukrainians to penetrate Russian defensive positions? I don't know. It will take a lot of time and effort. But clearly Russia is not going to gain any new territory and they will slowly lose territory over the next 12 months.
By this time next year, we will know if the Ukrainians were able to take the east bank of the Dnieper river and push the Russian back into Crimean and out of Luhansk and Donetsk. Can the Ukrainians retake Mariupol? I do not know. But one thing is true, there will be a lot of fighting in Ukraine over the next 12 months. This whole debate about Twitter, Facebook, Meta, Russia etc., is meaningless when you look at the reality of the fighting in Ukraine.
Besides, the time you have spent reading the news, forming your thoughts, authoring this email, me reading this email and writing my response while gathering my own background info has taken 3 days. During this time the reality on the front line has changed. By the time you have read my response (if at all) you will have prepared your talking points today, spent 3 hours on the radio and another 24 hours will have passed. What will have changed on the battlefield?
You are wasting your breath on this topic.
It is better focusing on the fact that the Patriot System is successful in intercepting Russian weapons systems. You also must throw in all the other older systems we have sent to Ukraine.. A 40 year old Germany 30MM radar controlled anti air system is quite effective against Iranian drones. We are sending in 40 year old HAWK anti air defense systems. Every country in the world is watching this and every miliary in the world has people in Ukraine watching the battles. Everyone can clearly see that modern warfare is far different going forward. China is learning they are not as prepared to exert dominance as they recently believed.
The Civil War in America taught many countries the importance of railways in managing logistical challenges in war. Likewise, the Ukraine war is going to teach alot of countries what they need to do to survive.
We have spent roughly $100 billion to arm Ukraine. This invest has destroyed the Russian military. I think it was a good investment. BTW, my cousin (US Army Artillery officer) was training Ukrainian artillery units in Ukraine about 5 years ago. The US military has been working with the Ukranian military for many years. We have had people on the ground observing the Russian military operations in Ukraine since they invaded in 2014. This war is something our Military has not been thinking about for a decade. We have been preparing to fight the Russian military for over 50 years.
Good analysis.
Here are two other folks' opinion pieces that concern election fairness, both in 2020 and 2024. Erick may wish to read these.
https://thefederalist.com/2023/06/23/whistleblower-transcripts-show-deep-state-election-rigging-for-biden-was-way-bigger-than-a-laptop/
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/ga-delaying-dominion-voting-machine-update-until-after-2024-despite
You ask for fairness and balanced reporting from the gentleman who (to date) has funded CTCL, CEIR, and the CZI? Eqrly Monday morning naivete. How refreshing.
Does anyone reading this know what those acronyms or initials stand for?
Anyone who is interested in ensuring fair elections in the US should.
CTCL = Center for Technology and Civic Life, the Zuckerberg/Chan initiative that dispensed a couple hundred million Zuckerbucks to swing districts in time for the 2020 voting
CEIR = Center for Election Innovation and Research, a second such initiative run by the same two folks, whose stated mission is to improve accessibility to ballots for voters who otherwise may not vote in person
CZI = Chan Zuckerberg Initiative ... Their mission statement reproduced here from their own website: "We’re on an ambitious mission to solve some of society’s toughest challenges — from eradicating disease to improving education and addressing the needs of our local communities." Sounds like classic liberalism ... or full throttle DEI wokeism, you choose.
First if the real media did its job and report on the new with no bias we would not have to get the news from social media.
Second can you be anti-Ukrainian war without being pro Putin? I would just like to know where all this money is going that we are throwing at them. Does anyone have a running total?
I'm not a twitter user so maybe I shouldn't have an opinion.
Don't fall for the Left's, "You've never (whatever) so you can't have an opinion" nonsense.
A few notes...who cares if Twitter is a good source for news out of Russia? I am genuinely asking, for 90% of users that see Twitter as a place to engage it petty verbal spats, what does it matter? Does Elon have any obligation to cultivate an environment where 10% of users are happy they have reliable sources for news out of Russia?
Twitter is like anything else...a platform. Just as on any platform users that care should find sources they trust and follow those. A new "blue check" shows up claiming something wild...who cares?
Why does an American social-media company have to worry about being the source for accurate, up to the minute global news?
I think I speak for most Americans when I say that I am perfectly fine finding out what is happening in Russia 72 or 96 hours after the fact. In fact I was fine going all weekend unaware anything was happening in Russia, and I stay pretty tapped in to the news.
For the record, I don't use Twitter. I didn't pre-Elon and still don't. It sucked then, seems to still suck now. Couldn't get accurate information then, seems you can't get accurate info now.
What has changed?
A bit naive to believe any open web media system will be immune to ideological slants.
Our historical press may be our best hope!🤔
I will defer to Mr. Erickson as to how much Elon Musk is parroting pro-Putin and anti-Ukraine talking points. While there are many political leaders in Ukraine that support Russia, it seems that many in Ukraine (including many leaders) want to align with the west. So, while I certainly want to be good stewards with our money, I think pro-western Ukrainians deserve our support.
Having admitted that about myself, I would like to say that there are many Americans on the right who are so opposed to anything Biden is doing that they will come close to echoing those same talking points that Musk promotes. They even act like fiscal hawks when I know for a fact they never cared about national debt in the past.
China has been running around the globe buying influence in Africa and South America (along with mines that yield the materials required for EV batteries). Meanwhile, we have been turning our backs on our allies and people who want to be closer to us all around that same globe.
Trump was very clear. He wanted us to not be engaged in anything outside our borders (slight exaggeration?). Think: Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Kurds.... The list goes on. By pulling back, America has created a vaccuum in the world. China is filling it. We will pay the price (think: Influence, battery materials, de-dollarization, etc.)
As Erick has said, when America pulls back the world burns.
Missing, last seen 1992, Monroe Doctrine.
Meh!
It's already very evident that Meta, and its component platforms, will not be an impartial manager of its content.
The fact that it punishes users without explaining exactly why they are being punished shows this to be true.
“The world needs a social media platform that can handle differences of opinion fairly”
Thanks for the laugh Erick.
There is no mainstream social media account that exists.
The Paul revere project is as close as you get to actual factual fair opinions.