Social media
March 2, 2023 — John Hinderaker
That isn’t surprising–social science data have long shown that conservatives are generally happier than liberals. But this study, which sampled 12th graders from 2005 through 2018, documents the deteriorating condition of liberals, and especially liberal girls: Adolescent internalizing symptoms (e.g. depressive affect) have increased over the past decade in the US, particularly among girls. The reasons for these increases are unclear. We hypothesize that increasing exposure to politicized events has
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February 16, 2023 — Scott Johnson
The Twitter Files lie at the intersection of the law enforcement and national security establishment, the bigfoot press, social media, and the Democratic Party. Reporter Matt Taibbi has immersed himself in the Twitter Files courtesy of Elon Musk. By my rough count, Taibbi has posted 10 or so of the 15 Twitter Files threads so far. Taibbi has also compiled a summary of each of the threads here at his
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February 8, 2023 — John Hinderaker
Tomorrow the House of Representatives’ Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government will hold its first hearing, chaired by Jim Jordan. The existence of this committee illustrates the vital difference between a narrow minority and a narrow majority. Under Democratic rule, “weaponization” of federal agencies was applauded, not investigated. The committee’s name refers in part to the Democrats’ deployment of the FBI and CIA as partisan agents. Donald
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January 14, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Matt Taibbi has posted a 10-part supplemental thread to the fourteenth installment of the Twitter Files. The supplemental thread can be accessed via the first tweet in the thread (below). Bruce Golding covers the thread for the New York Post here. 1.TWITTER FILES: Supplemental More Adam Schiff Ban Requests, and "Deamplification" — Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 13, 2023 In this thread Taibbi devotes special attention to the dogged efforts of
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January 8, 2023 — Scott Johnson
In following the multiple installments of the Twitter Files written by several hands, it is not easy to grasp the big picture. Lee Smith has formulated a sort of unified field theory of social media penetration by the law enforcement and intelligence agencies of the United States. He makes his case in the Tablet column “How the FBI hacked Twitter.” The Twitter Files themselves make for a part of the
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January 4, 2023 — Scott Johnson
Matt Taibbi posted two more Twitter Files threads yesterday afternoon. They are the eleventh and twelfth such threads posted by the journalists to whom Elon Musk has opened the files of old Twitter. Taibbi has taken the lead in documenting The eleventh thread includes 33 tweets that can be accessed via the first (below). 1.THREAD: The Twitter FilesHow Twitter Let the Intelligence Community In — Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) January 3,
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December 29, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Adam Goldman was one of the national security establishment’s go-to reporters for promotion of the Russia hoax. Indeed, Goldman “was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for national reporting on Russia’s meddling in the presidential election.” That’s the way the Times puts it. Those of us who don’t only get our news from the Times now know that it was the FBI more than any
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December 25, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Matt Taibbi delivered part 9 of the Twitter Files as a Christmas Eve special last night. Part 9 is an important contribution to the series. I think readers can access the thread beginning with the tweet below, although I can only pull up the first 30 tweets at this point. 1.THREAD: The Twitter FilesTWITTER AND "OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES" — Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 24, 2022 When I read the thread
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December 24, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Explaining the disruption of his professional routine, Matt Taibbi explains: “The reason for all this of course is the Twitter Files story.” Responding to the FBI’s drivel, Taibbi adds this preview to what we have seen so far: This last week saw the FBI describe Lee Fang, Michael Shellenberger and me as “conspiracy theorists” whose “sole aim” is to discredit the agency. That statement will look ironic soon, as we
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December 19, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Late yesterday afternoon Matt Taibbi posted a Twitter Files Supplemental thread running to 12 substantive tweets. It is accessible here. I urge interested readers to check it out. Here are my notes and comments. • The New York Post covers it here. The Daily Mail covers it here. Mainstream media eyes remain wide shut. The revelations of the Twitter Files suggest that Elon Musk may not be public enemy number
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December 17, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Matt Taibbi posted a sixth installment of the Twitter Files in a 45-part Twitter thread yesterday afternoon. The thread is accessible here. This review is occasioned by the posting of Taibbi’s part 6. • I posted previous installments of my notes here (December 6, on Taibbi’s part 1), here (December 11, on part 2 by Bari Weiss, part 3 by Taibbi, and part 4 by Michael Shellenberger), and here (December
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December 15, 2022 — Scott Johnson
At her Free Press site Bari Weiss has posted background on the reporting behind the Twitter Files I have noted so far. She calls her backgrounder “Our reporting at Twitter.” (The URL suggests she might have called it “Why we went to Twitter.”) It answers certain of the questions I raised in my previous “Notes on the Twitter Files.” She writes (links omitted): [W]e—the journalist Matt Taibbi; investigative reporters connected
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December 14, 2022 — John Hinderaker
We know now that tech companies cooperated with government officials to suppress Americans’ freedom of speech. Was that legal? Of course! say liberals: the First Amendment doesn’t apply to private companies. (This is the first and only time when liberals accord such unfettered discretion to private industry.) But is that really the end of the story? In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, law professor Philip Hamburger took up the question. He
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December 14, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Jack Dorsey is the founder and former CEO of Twitter. In a social media post, he comments on the current Twitter controversies and takes the blame for the company’s problems: There’s a lot of conversation around the #TwitterFiles. Here’s my take, and thoughts on how to fix the issues identified. I’ll start with the principles I’ve come to believe…based on everything I’ve learned and experienced through my past actions as
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December 14, 2022 — Scott Johnson
I have been keeping up in my own way with the Twitter Files documented in threads posted by Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and Michael Shellenberger on Twitter. I posted previous installments here (December 6) and here (December 11). On Monday Weiss posted part 5 (“The removal of Trump from Twitter”) — a 30-tweet thread. Please forgive the repetition involved in my observations. These are my comments on part 5: •
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December 13, 2022 — Scott Johnson
The Hunter Biden scandal lies at the intersection of the great reporting of the New York Post on Hunter Biden’s laptop and the Biden family business, the 2020 presidential election, the deep state, the suppression of the scandal by Twitter and other social media platforms, Elon Musk, and the Twitter Files. It is an incredibly important story. Daniel Oliver shares my assessment. He places the scandal in the context of
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December 11, 2022 — Scott Johnson
Elon Musk has divvied up the Twitter Files documenting the platform’s historical censorship practices to Matt Taibbi, Bari Weiss, and Michael Shellenberger. Each has posted long threads on Twitter reporting on the contents of the files. I posted my notes on Taibbi’s first thread on December 6. I have an abbreviated set of notes and queries following on the publication of parts 2, 3, and 4 over the past few
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