Illiberalism
Fig. 1. Photograph by Joachim F. Thurn, August 1991, Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F089030-0003, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE.
There is a new blog post entitled, “Move along, folks, nothing to see here.”
Joseph C. Sternberg, “Orbán and the Collapse of the Trump Intellectuals,” Wall Street Journal, November 17, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/orban-and-the-collapse-of-the-trump-intellectuals-hungary-national-conservatives-brussels-european-union-money-legal-corruption-reform-11668696725
Academic freedom
Fig. 2. “The Evolution of Intellectual Freedom.” Comic by Jorge Cham, 2011, via Episyllogism[1] fair use.
Jack Stripling, “Channeling Orwell, Judge Blasts Florida’s ‘Dystopian’ Ban on ‘Woke’ Instruction,” Chronicle of Higher Education, November 17, 2022, https://www.chronicle.com/article/conjuring-orwell-florida-judge-blasts-dystopian-ban-on-woke-instruction
Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Infrastructure
Fig. 3. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
When last I checked in on this particular story, Ed Gainey was promising snow removal on all streets in Pittsburgh within 24 hours.[2] People don’t believe him.[3]
It’s kind of an odd thing, really. Nobody talks about corruption to the newspaper reporter, or if they do, she doesn’t report it.[4] But I had a guy in my back seat a few nights ago who declared—I don’t know how you would establish this—that Allegheny County is the most corrupt county in the most corrupt state in the Union. My passengers take it for granted that the interminable road work projects are more about keeping those workers employed than they are about accomplishing anything.
Indeed, lately, I’ve been hearing about multiple projects, not all in Allegheny County, by the way, that, not having been done right the first time, are having to be done over again, sometimes multiple times.
It really feels like these workers live in terror that whatever job they’re on is the last one they’ll ever get, so they’re milking it for every penny they can get. And of course, I can’t help but feel that something similar is happening with the snow plowing operation.
As I sit here waiting for my car’s (gasp) 90,000-mile service, it strikes me that this is how you know corruption. You feel it, even when you can’t connect the dots with logic and evidence, because everything is hush-hush and you aren’t supposed to know.
My dilemma remains. I expect evidence and argument and of course I don’t have this. But I do have that feeling.[5] It’s a feeling I can’t shake.
Julia Felton, “Pittsburghers skeptical of mayor’s snow removal goals,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburghers-skeptical-of-mayors-road-snow-removal-goals/
Gilead
Fig. 4. “Elon Musk shared a video of his entrance on his Twitter account.” Photograph attributed to Elon Musk, October 26, 2022, via the New York Post,[6] fair use.
A British Broadcasting Corporation story[7] in particular must be read to be believed.
Despite the turmoil at the company, Mr [Elon] Musk tweeted on Friday: “And… we just hit another all-time high in Twitter usage lol.”
Satirist Frank Lesser replied: “‘Rome has never been this brightly lit at night!’ – Nero” – a reference to the Roman emperor who is reputed to have fiddled while Rome burned.
Before Mr Musk took control of Twitter the company had about 7,500 staff. The firm was also reported to have employed thousands of contract workers, the majority of whom are understood to have been laid off.[8]
There might be less than 2,000 left now[9] as Twitter had already laid off approximately half its workforce,[10] then asked those remaining to commit to long hours and “exceptional” performance,[11] reportedly leading hundreds (sounds like over a thousand) more to accept severance.[12] We might be really close[13] to that 75 percent cut in staff that Elon Musk had originally threatened,[14] and we might be really close to Twitter simply crashing as critical systems are now insufficiently staffed.[15]
Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/
Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/
James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307
Annie Gaus, “Twitter Teeters as Offices Shut Down, Employees Flee,” San Francisco Standard, November 18, 2022, https://sfstandard.com/business/twitter-teeters-on-collapse-as-offices-shut-down/
Sky News, “World Cup risks knocking out Twitter after staff exodus, industry expert warns,” November 18, 2022, https://news.sky.com/story/twitter-reportedly-closes-offices-over-sabotage-fears-as-more-employees-resign-12749959
- [1]Bob Lane, “Academic Freedom,” Episyllogism, November 3, 2016, https://boblane.com/2016/11/03/academic-freedom/↩
- [2]Julia Felton, “Pittsburgh sets goal to clear roads within 24 hours of snowfall,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 15, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-officials-share-citys-plans-for-snow-removal-say-goal-is-to-clear-streets-within-24-hours-of-snowfall/↩
- [3]Julia Felton, “Pittsburghers skeptical of mayor’s snow removal goals,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburghers-skeptical-of-mayors-road-snow-removal-goals/↩
- [4]Julia Felton, “Pittsburghers skeptical of mayor’s snow removal goals,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, November 17, 2022, https://triblive.com/local/pittsburghers-skeptical-of-mayors-road-snow-removal-goals/↩
- [5]David Benfell, “It is what it is,” Not Housebroken, December 31, 2021, https://disunitedstates.org/2021/12/31/it-is-what-it-is/↩
- [6]Thomas Barrabi, “Elon Musk barges into Twitter HQ as deal nears: ‘Let that sink in,’” New York Post, October 26, 2022, https://nypost.com/2022/10/26/elon-musk-barges-into-twitter-headquarters-as-deal-nears/↩
- [7]James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307↩
- [8]James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307↩
- [9]James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307↩
- [10]Edward Ludlow and Kurt Wagner, “Musk Plans to Eliminate Half of Twitter Jobs to Cut Costs,” Bloomberg, November 2, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-02/musk-plans-to-eliminate-half-of-twitter-jobs-in-cost-cut-drive↩
- [11]Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill, “Musk issues ultimatum to staff: Commit to ‘hardcore’ Twitter or take severance,” Washington Post, November 16, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/16/musk-twitter-email-ultimatum-termination/↩
- [12]Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/↩
- [13]James Clayton and Peter Hoskins, “Twitter locks staff out of offices until next week,” British Broadcasting Corporation, November 18, 2022, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63672307↩
- [14]Elizabeth Dwoskin et al., “Documents detail plans to gut Twitter’s workforce,” Washington Post, October 20, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/10/20/musk-twitter-acquisition-staff-cuts/↩
- [15]Joseph Menn, Nitasha Tiku, and Faiz Siddiqui, “Hundreds said to have opted to leave Twitter over Musk ultimatum,” Washington Post, November 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/17/twitter-musk-easing-rto-order/; Sky News, “World Cup risks knocking out Twitter after staff exodus, industry expert warns,” November 18, 2022, https://news.sky.com/story/twitter-reportedly-closes-offices-over-sabotage-fears-as-more-employees-resign-12749959↩