Roman-Catholic Church dismisses anti-choice priest. He claims it’s because he’s anti-choice.

benfell

In this issue:

Roman-Catholic Church

Sex


Fig. 1. “Lust, from the ‘Seven Deadly Sins.’” Etching by Léon Davent, circa 1550-1555, via the Metropolitan Museum of Art, fair use.

We don’t have a full story of what happened here, but it appears that the Roman Catholic hierarchy has dismissed a strident anti-choice priest, Frank Pavone, allegedly for blasphemy. The Catholic News Agency report notes that he used profanity. Given all-too-recent history, particularly of U.S. bishops, it seems implausible that it was over his anti-choice views, though he certainly claims as much.[1]

Shannon Mullen and Joe Bukuras, “Vatican dismisses Father Frank Pavone from priesthood,” Catholic News Agency, December 17, 2022, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253106/vatican-dismisses-father-frank-pavone-from-priesthood

Gilead

Twitter


Fig. 2. “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,[2] fair use.

This,[3] in addition to not paying the rent:[4]

A lawsuit says Twitter failed to pay a $1,092,000 invoice in a software contract that doesn’t expire until late 2024, and that the Elon Musk-led company apparently intends to stiff the vendor on another $7 million worth of payments.

Imply Data, Inc. sued Twitter in California Superior Court in San Francisco County, alleging breach of contract. The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday (see complaint) and reported by Bloomberg today.

“For over four years, Imply has licensed its proprietary software to Twitter, and Twitter has paid Imply over $10 million,” the lawsuit said. “Twitter has always been very pleased with Imply’s product and its related maintenance and support services, so, in mid-2021, the parties extended the term of their software license and service agreement for an additional three years from October 1, 2021, through September 30, 2024.”[5]

Apparently, a decision to welch on debt dates to November.[6] I missed that at the time.

Laura Forman, “Twitter’s Advertising Truth Hurts,” Wall Street Journal, December 11, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitters-advertising-truth-hurts-11670706720

Keith Olbermann, “Hey look what they found in the ‘Twitter Files,’” Twitter, December 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/KeithOlbermann/status/1601983506070081536

Elon Musk, “My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci,” Twitter, December 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1601894132573605888

Charlie Warzel, “Elon Musk Is a Far-Right Activist,” Atlantic, December 11, 2022, https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/elon-musk-twitter-far-right-activist/672436/

Joseph Menn, “Elon Musk uses QAnon tactic in criticizing former Twitter safety chief,” Washington Post, December 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/12/musk-child-porn-qanon/

Stephen Wilmot, “Half-Price Tesla Stock Is Still No Bargain,” Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/half-price-tesla-stock-is-still-no-bargain-11670851513

Cat Zakrzewski, Joseph Menn, and Naomi Nix, “Twitter dissolves Trust and Safety Council,” Washington Post, December 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/12/musk-twitter-harass-yoel-roth/

Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton, “Twitter’s risky plan to save its ads business,” Platformer, December 13, 2022, https://www.platformer.news/p/twitters-risky-plan-to-save-its-ads

Steve Burgess, “Please Advise! Is Elon Musk Really That Vile?” Tyee, December 14, 2022, https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2022/12/14/Please-Advise-Elon-Musk-Really-Vile/

Joseph De Avila, “Twitter Suspends Account That Tracked Elon Musk’s Private Jet,” Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-suspends-account-that-tracked-elon-musks-private-jet-11671036887

Rebecca Elliott, “Elon Musk Sold More Than $3.5 Billion Worth of Tesla Shares,” Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-sold-more-than-3-5-billion-worth-of-tesla-shares-11671071099

Nicholas Gordon, “Twitter is reportedly not paying rent for its offices as Musk warns users to ‘beware of debt,’” Fortune, December 14, 2022, https://fortune.com/2022/12/14/twitter-not-paying-office-rent-elon-musk-cut-costs/

Drew Harwell, “QAnon, adrift after Trump’s defeat, finds new life in Elon Musk’s Twitter,” Washington Post, December 14, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/14/qanon-musk-revival-twitter/

Paul Farhi, “Musk suspends journalists from Twitter, claims ‘assassination’ danger,” Washington Post, December 15, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/12/15/twitter-journalists-suspended-musk/

Dana Hull and Bloomberg, “Elon Musk just unloaded $3.6 billion in Tesla stock, his 4th huge sale this year,” Fortune, December 15, 2022, https://fortune.com/2022/12/15/elon-musk-unloaded-billion-tesla-stock-fourth-huge-sale-this-year/

Jordan Pearson, “Elon Musk Had His Most Absurd, Disturbing 24 Hours at Twitter Yet,” Vice, December 15, 2022, https://www.vice.com/en/article/qjk5yx/elon-musk-had-his-most-absurd-disturbing-24-hours-at-twitter-yet

Jon Brodkin, “Twitter stiffs software vendor with $8 million left on contract, lawsuit says,” Ars Technica, December 16, 2022, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/12/twitter-stiffs-software-vendor-with-8-million-left-on-contract-lawsuit-says/

Adam Clark, “Musk’s Twitter Suspends Accounts of Some Journalists and Rival Mastodon,” Barron’s, December 16, 2022, https://www.barrons.com/articles/elon-musk-twitter-suspends-accounts-journalists-mastodon-tesla-51671178816

Alexa Corse, “Elon Musk Seeks Additional Funds for Twitter,” Wall Street Journal, December 16, 2022, https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-seeks-additional-funds-for-twitter-11671247325

Jillian Deutsch and Aggi Cantrill, “Musk Faces European Anger Over Twitter Ban of Journalists,” Bloomberg, December 16, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-16/musk-faces-threats-from-european-lawmakers-over-twitter-bans

Kevin T. Dugan, “Is Elon Musk Setting Himself Up to Lose Tesla?” New York, December 16, 2022, https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/12/why-elon-musks-twitter-affair-could-cots-him-tesla.html

Gali, “the mainstream media can't stop talking about @twitter drama because it fuels the clickbait model . . .” Twitter, December 16, 2022, https://twitter.com/Gfilche/status/1603644570679803904

Jeremy Barr and Sarah Ellison, “Musk unsuspends some reporters on Twitter. But their companies never left,” Washington Post, December 17, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/12/17/musk-twitter-journalist-suspension-media-react/

So-called ‘ridesharing’

Drivers


Fig. 3. Screenshot of direct message sent to Uber Support by author, December 15, 2022.

Uber still hasn’t figured out how or if to respond to the message I sent them protesting the hostile work environment they impose on drivers. I was expecting it to disappear into a black hole, but apparently, they think they must respond because I received another notice yesterday saying they’d seen the message and that their “team” was working on it.

This doesn’t signify progress. It’s the same message they sent the first time.

In the meantime, I don’t think I have ever been more terrified as a working driver. The pay cut for drivers I described earlier—I estimate by at least a quarter or a third or sometimes it feels like even more—combines with a seasonal decline in business to reduce my income to nearly nothing.

I’m still busy, even with the hard ten-dollar minimum I’m using to decide whether or not to accept orders. But the numbers really aren’t coming out.

I don’t know what to do. All I’ve wanted for nearly twenty-two years is a real job. The answer to that has been a hard no, even as I returned to school, finished a B.A., an M.A., and a Ph.D.[7] And now I can’t afford to live.

  1. [1]Shannon Mullen and Joe Bukuras, “Vatican dismisses Father Frank Pavone from priesthood,” Catholic News Agency, December 17, 2022, https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253106/vatican-dismisses-father-frank-pavone-from-priesthood↩
  2. [2]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/↩
  3. [3]Jon Brodkin, “Twitter stiffs software vendor with $8 million left on contract, lawsuit says,” Ars Technica, December 16, 2022, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/12/twitter-stiffs-software-vendor-with-8-million-left-on-contract-lawsuit-says/↩
  4. [4]Nicholas Gordon, “Twitter is reportedly not paying rent for its offices as Musk warns users to ‘beware of debt,’” Fortune, December 14, 2022, https://fortune.com/2022/12/14/twitter-not-paying-office-rent-elon-musk-cut-costs/↩
  5. [5]Jon Brodkin, “Twitter stiffs software vendor with $8 million left on contract, lawsuit says,” Ars Technica, December 16, 2022, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/12/twitter-stiffs-software-vendor-with-8-million-left-on-contract-lawsuit-says/↩
  6. [6]Mike Isaac and Ryan Mac, “As Elon Musk Cuts Costs at Twitter, Some Bills Are Going Unpaid,” New York Times, November 22, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/technology/elon-musk-twitter-cost-cutting.html↩
  7. [7]David Benfell, “About my job hunt,” Not Housebroken, n.d., https://disunitedstates.org/about-my-job-hunt/↩

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