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--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> John Clark <johnkclark@gmail.com> <br><b>Subject:</b> Re: [ExI] Gilded Rage: Elon Musk and the Radicalization of Silicon Valley<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>On Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 7:34 AM <<a href="mailto:spike@rainier66.com">spike@rainier66.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><p class=MsoNormal><span class=m4939872311104118928gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>>></span></i></span><span class=gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>></span></i></span><span class=m4939872311104118928gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>… </span></i></span><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>OK so… now what? TwitterX is free, Truth Social, Reason, Blue Sky, free free free. These media have a magic way of collectively finding stuff out:</span></i><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote></div></blockquote></blockquote><div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><div><div><div><div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></blockquote></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><p class=MsoNormal><span class=m4939872311104118928gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>></span></b></span><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>></span></b></span><span class=m4939872311104118928gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>…TwitterX </span></b></span><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>also has a magic way of making stuff up… John </span></b><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> </span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span class=gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>> </span></i></span><i><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>Ja. This puts the responsibility (and the ability) of verification on the reader. </span></i><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>>…If somebody's only news source is TwitterX then the only way they can judge the accuracy of a story that they have read on </span></b></span><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>TwitterX<span class=gmaildefault> is by comparing it with other stories that they have also read on </span>TwitterX<span class=gmaildefault>…<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>Ja of course. But everyone has a voice on TwitterX now. So it provides rebuttals to its own stories. News agencies give a unified picture, which is distorted. The magic of TwitterX is that it presents all sides (there are more than two sides.)<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>>…And the richest man in the world's algorithm triumphs yet again…<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>That makes it sound like a bad thing. Triumphing yet again is how that guy got to be the world’s richest man. We should all triumph yet again. If so, it would be so confusing: if everyone has wealth beyond imagination. no one would really know for sure who is the world’s richest man.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> </span></b></span><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>>>… </span></i></span><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Georgia",serif'>We do not need or want an elite class of professional news reporters.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p></blockquote><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>>…I think we do, I think we need reporters that<span class=gmaildefault> give us the facts…<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>But they failed spectacularly, creating a demand and a market for TwitterX. <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>We have a great example of an epic fail: the New York Times and Washington Post won Pulitzer prizes for their deeply sourced and relentless coverage of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Later it was discovered that the stories were fake news: Russia didn’t interfere in that election. Those two once-respected news sources never formally retracted their stories, never handed back their Pulitzer prizes and never regained their credibility. Pulitzer prizes were awarded for fake news.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>>… reporters that <u>BOTH</u> extreme left-wing <u>AND</u> extreme right-wing people hate with a vengeance. </span></b></span><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'> </span></b> <span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>John K Clark<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>There are more than two wings, and no one cares much about the extreme wings anyway: those guys hate everything. The enduring paradigm of binary left-right is a big part of why this planet needs a free and open forum like TwitterX, where people can post whatever they feel (except direct criticism of Elon Musk and his companies (but you and I would do the same if we owned TwitterX.))<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Below is what the Canada ad said, vs what Reagan actually said:</span></b></span><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#242424;background:#F7F7F7'> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#242424;background:#F7F7F7'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#242424;background:#F7F7F7'>Canadian ad:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#242424;background:#F7F7F7'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>“When someone says, ‘Let’s impose tariffs on foreign imports,’ it looks like they’re doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while it works—but only for a short time. But over the long run, such trade barriers hurt every American worker and consumer. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs.”<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#242424;background:#F7F7F7'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;color:#242424;background:#F7F7F7'>What Reagan said in 1987:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> <span class=gmaildefault><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>You see, at first, when someone says, ``Let's impose tariffs on foreign imports,'' it looks like they're doing the patriotic thing by protecting American products and jobs. And sometimes for a short while it works -- but only for a short time. What eventually occurs is: First, homegrown industries start relying on government protection in the form of high tariffs. They stop competing and stop making the innovative management and technological changes they need to succeed in world markets. And then, while all this is going on, something even worse occurs. High tariffs inevitably lead to retaliation by foreign countries and the triggering of fierce trade wars. The result is more and more tariffs, higher and higher trade barriers, and less and less competition. So, soon, because of the prices made artificially high by tariffs that subsidize inefficiency and poor management, people stop buying. Then the worst happens: Markets shrink and collapse; businesses and industries shut down; and millions of people lose their jobs.<span class=gmaildefault><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>Ja, it was edited. If they are going to use Reagan quotes that way, then they need to not trim it out of context.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div></div></body></html>