What Hath Elon Musk Wrought, Part 2

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By now most people are aware of the Elon Musk/Twitter saga.  After purchasing a 9.2% share of Twitter, he then proposed buying the company outright.

Twitter acted to prevent the takeover by using a poison pill approach.  This would involve issuing shares at half price to existing shareholders if any investor would gain ownership of more than 15% of the outstanding shares.

Twitter’s temper tantrum (that’s what the poison pill offer was) publicized to the entire world Twitter’s desire to continue to censor free speech.   It also exposed its extreme hostility to more than half of its potential customers worldwide, that is those who believe in free speech.

What is the real purpose of all of Elon Musk’s actions?

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Bits & Pieces

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday he will formally seek to strip the Walt Disney Co. of its self-governing status after it publicly bashed the Sunshine State’s anti-grooming law.  Potential termination of all special districts that were announced in Florida prior to 1968 would be reviewed by the legislature.

Many families across the country are re-considering the Disney company for family activities.  This is due in part to Disney’s stated intentions of including “queerness” (their statement not mine) as much as possible in children’s programming.

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It’s Over

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A federal judge in Florida has voided the national mask mandate covering airports, planes and other public travel.  The decision by U.S. District Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle in Tampa said the CDC failed to justify its decision and did not follow proper rulemaking procedures that left it fatally flawed.

In her 59-page ruling, Mizelle said the only remedy was to vacate the rule entirely across the country because it would be impossible to end it for the limited group of people who had filed  the lawsuit.

[PDF Ruling Available Here]

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What Hath Elon Musk Wrought? Part 1

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By now most people know that Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, purchased 9.2% of Twitter’s outstanding shares worth around $2.9 billion in early April.  This made Musk the largest single shareholder of Twitter.

The purchase was a bit of a surprise since Musk had raised questions about the site’s free speech policy.

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Florida Rolls

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Many states have been involved in the process of redrawing the lines for their House congressional districts as a result of the last census. Florida is no exception and actually will add a congressional seat making their total 28.  This is the result of rapid population growth as well as population shifts elsewhere in the country.

The Florida legislature originally drew two potential maps and sent them to the governor for his signature.  He vetoed them based on the opinion of attorneys in the governor’s office that such maps were unconstitutional.  Specifically, Florida law states that district lines cannot be “drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party.”  This law is supported by nearly two-thirds of Florida voters.

This is not what happens in many other states.  Lines are often drawn to favor an incumbent or to dis-favor one.  Both parties do it.  South Carolina’s 6th congressional district is one such example of many across the country.

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PPI Sets New Record

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The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released March price data [Available Here] showing a dramatic 11.2% increase year-over-year in Final Demand products at the wholesale level.  This is the fifth consecutive month with the highest rate of inflation the PPI ever recorded.

The PPI (Producer Price Index) tracks wholesale price changes.  This includes Origination (commodity), Intermediate (processing), and Final (to wholesale).

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