Related...
MAGA vs. Musk: Right-wing critics allege censorship, loss of X badges
www.axios.com
... A handful of conservative critics of Elon Musk are alleging censorship and claiming they were stripped of their verification badges on X after challenging his views on H-1B visas for highly skilled foreign workers. ...
Related...
An online debate over foreign workers in tech shows tensions in Trump's political coalition
apnews.com
... An online spat between factions of Donald Trump's supporters over immigration and the tech industry has thrown internal divisions in his political movement into public display, previewing the fissures and contradictory views his coalition could bring to the White House.
The rift laid bare the tensions between the newest flank of Trump's movement -- wealthy members of the tech world including billionaire Elon Musk and fellow entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and their call for more highly skilled workers in their industry -- and people in Trump's Make America Great Again base who championed his hardline immigration policies. ...
@#16 ... They're capricious "rules" that only apply to people he doesn't like saying things he doesn't like. He's not for free speech at all. ...
Like this?
OpEd: Elon Musk Is Absolutely an Enemy of Free Speech (July 2023)
www.freepress.net
... In Elon Musk's mind he's absolutely a free-speech absolutist. He'll absolutely defend your right to speak out, as long as you don't criticize him. If you do ... well ... then you're out of luck. ...
These attempts to silence his critics are not surprising to anyone who's followed Musk's erratic behavior. The magnate positions himself as a champion of free and open debate while taking extraordinary efforts to silence any honest criticism and independent research that might negatively impact Musk and his many businesses.
Musk has targeted CCDH for exposing how hate and disinformation have mushroomed on Twitter since he took over in late October. That he still considers himself a free-speech absolutist is stunning given his past efforts to silence anyone who questions his motives or criticizes his businesses.
Musk's taste for shutting down dissenting voices predates CCDH and even his takeover of Twitter. Here's the history: ...
@#27
Speaking of hiring immigrants ...
While i have never been a fan of undocumented immigrants in the US, I also try to ask what would be the effects upon the economy if all the undocumented immigrants were concentrated in camps and deported/
I'm thinking about the agriculture industry, the construction industry, the hospitality service industry, etc.
For example...
Children Risk Their Lives Building America's Roofs (December 2023)
www.nytimes.com
... This is Antoni Padilla, 15. He found work as a roofer in South Carolina after leaving Honduras.
Federal law bars anyone under 18 from roofing because it's so dangerous. But across the U.S., migrant children do this work anyway.
They call themselves "ruferitos" on social media. In videos like these, they talk about being underage and pose on rooftops and ladders, often without the required safety gear.
One slip can be fatal.
The New York Times spoke with more than 100 child roofers in nearly two dozen states, including some who began at elementary-school age. They wake before dawn to be driven to distant job sites, sometimes crossing state lines. They carry heavy bundles of shingles that leave their arms shaking. They work through heat waves on black-tar rooftops that scorch their hands.
The rise of child roofers comes as young people are crossing the southern border alone in record numbers. Nearly 400,000 children have come to the United States since 2021 without their parents, and a majority have ended up working, The New York Times has reported in a series of articles this year. ...
What might happen to the costs of the construction industry if those child workers are replaced with American workers who demand safety in their jobs?
What to know about Sriram Krishnan, whose AI appointment sparked MAGA outrage
www.axios.com
... Sriram Krishnan has become a MAGA lightning rod since President-elect Trump named him as a senior adviser on artificial intelligence, due to both anti-Indian racism and Krishnan's pro-immigration views.
The big picture: Krishnan is an unlikely candidate for controversy, known throughout Silicon Valley for his affability and to the broader world as co-host of a podcast with his wife, tech entrepreneur Aarthi Ramamurthy.
Zoom in: Krishnan was born and educated in India, moving to the U.S. on an L-1 visa (intra-company transfer) in 2007 to work at Microsoft.
- - - He remained in Seattle for just over six years, mostly focused on Azure, before moving to Silicon Valley and serving in senior product roles at Snap, Facebook, Yahoo and Twitter. He became a U.S. citizen in 2016.
- - - During the pandemic, Krishnan and Ramamurthy launched a popular show on the Clubhouse audio app, which included interviews with such tech luminaries as Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg.
Moving on: Krishnan in late 2020 became a general partner with venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, a prominent backer of Clubhouse.
- - - He also would become the firm's emissary to Twitter after Elon Musk's takeover, which Andreessen Horowitz helped finance, spending time in the "war room" with Musk pals like David Sacks (who will serve as Trump's AI and crypto czar).
- - - Last year Krishnan moved to London to lead Andreessen Horowitz's first European office and to focus on early-stage crypto investments. He announced in November that he'd leave the firm at year-end, although that came before Trump's job offers to either him or Sacks.
The intrigue: Krishnan has advocated for raising country caps on green cards, but hasn't specifically commented on H-1B visas (despite incorrect social media claims to the contrary). ...
www.reuters.com
Lol ... dotard is choosing foreigners over MAGA subtards.
