As IF Times

link:  https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/25/23028323/elon-musk-twitter-offer-buyout-hostile-takeover-ownership

The biggest story of the past week is not the on-going conflict in Ukraine, nor the suspicious election in France, nor the ongoing implosion of the US economy and thankfully, not the pearl clutching moaning about Covid.

Edging out by a nose the trials and misadventures of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard was the news of billionaire Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter.

For years, the Twitter platform had been accused of being a biased environment wherein conservative voices were censored in favor of narratives more in line with woke sensibilities.  This has always been denied at the company, but oddly, now that the buyout will move management into the hands of a presumably more libertarian owner, the bleating cacophony from the outraged twits is what you might hear if you dared remove food from a murder of crows.

Twitter rose from being a public bulletin board on which anyone was free to express their views on any topic; a virtual free speech soapbox.   Since mass media is so tightly controlled by a few players, having an open forum to vent views was clearly something that resonated with the public and the platform grew from just a virtual bathroom wall to become a monstrous commercial juggernaut with enormous reach and worth billions ( 45 at last count).

It was because of the monolithic aspect of mainstream news and media outlets that Twitter achieved such gravity.  However as time went on, the platform took on the role of moderator of views rather than being a conveyor of them.  Increasingly there was less and less effort in hiding the fact that hard core woke people had taken over the platform.  Thus, influential people were banned from the platform when stating things that, while true, did not pass the sniff test of the Twitter gatekeepers.  Oddly, the most despotic people on the planet continued to have voice there, Iranian mullahs for example.  It became high school on steroids where the cool kids allowed you to play….or not.

If we are to believe the deniers, who up until recently controlled the levers at Twitter, that they were not restricting access to undesirable views, then what possible difference would it make to have a new owner on board.  Clearly, the truth and reality will be revealed for all to see.

Obviously, some kind of free speech platform is needed as a counterweight to the overwhelmingly biased and laughable content offered by all other media outlets.

Many other free speech platforms have tried to copy Twitter’s model in the past few years, but most have fallen into the same trap as Twitter by censoring certain voices, so ‘free speech’ was still determined by somebody.  Even the much anticipated Truth Social is hamstrung by not being available on the Android platform.  To my knowledge only Gab has remained free of any restrictions.   It’s worth noting that CNN promoted a product labelled CNN+.  It failed after only 3 weeks in operation.  We’re unclear as to why anyone would think there’s a market for more CNN.  It’s evident that the marketplace wanted voices other than the tiresome drivel offered by mainstream media.

In a time when information is so heavily managed, platforms in which real truths can be shared and consumed are a necessity and should not be controlled by biased elements.   We’ll see what changes will come with Musk’s ownership, but it may be that the tyranny of the woke may be over.  Perhaps this will spur other organizations to see that the market for real news and unbiased reportage is huge….worth at least 45 billion.

link Teacher who blogged about her lazy students gets her job back – On Deadline – USATODAY.com.

When someone decides on a career in teaching, presumably they are pursuing some idealistic dream of conveying knowledge and enlightening young minds.  It must be a jarring jolt of reality when the classroom experience is one of indifference, hostility and entitlement from students. 

Hamstrung by administrators and political rot, there is more and more anecdotal evidence that the effectiveness of teachers is being compromised by the stifling social malaise of entitlement, at least in the public schools.  One of the most insidious forms of entitlement is that of censorship.  If you can’t even call a spade a spade, then the whole notion of an enlightened education is moot.   Students have been unruly and petulant forever, according to such experts as Aristotle and Socrates.  It appears that it’s only been in recent history that such behaviour is supported by administrators, parents and society at large.  Ironically, while the whole world fights for access to education, in our culture, people fight for the right of not having to learn.

Consequently, we observe instances of kids who have notionally graduated, but for all intents and purposes are functional idiots.  Legend by now are stories of teenagers and college graduates who can’t properly read or write and are then offered up to the unforgiving working world.  Since their academic and social skills are malformed, these kids are eligible only for entry level service jobs or as cast members on reality TV shows.  Teachers like the one featured in the story are no doubt discouraged that they act merely as enablers for students to be passed along to next processing station without any positive impact.   If kids are in fact lazy and entitled, shouldn’t that behaviour be called out?  The comments at the bottom of the article are the most amusing, because many are chastising the teacher for her candor, instead of realizing that it is their very defense of the ‘kids’ that is responsible for the malaise that affects education today.  As if it was the teacher that was at fault for not tolerating petulant kids.

Rahm Emmanuel, the new mayor of Chicago was publicly prickly when asked about where he sent his kids for schooling.  Like many wealthy people, his kids were attending private schools.  While the quality of teaching may be arguably better at the private schools, it’s likely the main difference is the culture that contrasts with the public schools.  At private schools, there are thresholds of achievement that must be met and certainly standards of behaviour much stricter than is enforced in the public system.  Parents pay for this.  They know that certain standards of academic and behavioral accomplishment must be met in order to be properly educated.   At the root of this education is a value system that encourages study, excellence and integrity, things that used to be taught in the public school system.  It’s a mystery as to why the public would allow their tax money to support a system that was any less rigorous.