Tag: Stephen King

Categories
Social Media

Stephen King Responds To Musk’s Plan For Charging Twitter Users And It’s Absolutely Brutal

 

Even though he’s only owned Twitter for a couple of months now, Elon Musk is already losing money hand over fist on the social media site, with Bloomberg reporting that Musk’s net worth is down a cool $8 billion in the week since he paid $44 billion to purchase a controlling interest.

How to solve the massive hemorrhaging of cash from Twitter? Well, Musk floated the idea of charging $20 a month for those who want “verified” accounts, which are easily identified by the blue check mark you see next to some users, for example on MSNBC’s Twitter account:

The Washington Post reports that Musk is desperate to find ways for his new acquisition to pay for itself.

Musk is scrambling to find ways to shore up Twitter’s business and increase its revenue. Though the company is no longer public, it now has to make huge interest payments every year on the debt Musk accrued by buying it. Musk also pitched his co-investors on the deal by saying he would be able to improve the company’s business rapidly in the years after taking it over.

Right now, Twitter makes most of its money from advertising, and Musk is currently in New York meeting with advertisers to shore up relationships with them, including representatives of the biggest marketing agencies, according to an executive at one of those agencies who spoke on the condition of anonymity. But advertising won’t be enough, Musk has said repeatedly.

But the idea of charging users for verified accounts isn’t sitting well with many, including novelist Stephen King, who was eager to let Musk know that his plan is only going lead to millions dropping Twitter altogether, which could prove catastrophic for Musk’s dreams of making a mint off the site.

King let Musk have it.

Musk tried to counter with a better offer.

Others joined King and noted that since they’re providing the content for Twitter, maybe Musk should be sending them a check every month instead of the other way around.

Even an online poll shows that the vast majority of Twitter users will refuse to fork over a red cent for the right to post on the platform.

Sounds like Elon should have stuck to inheriting money from his daddy and being an insufferable asshole. At least he’s good at those.

 

Categories
Gun Crime

Stephen King Explains Exactly What It Will Take To End Mass Shootings In The US

Novelist Stephen King has never been shy when it comes to saying what he thinks on any number of issues, and once again he’s using common sense to solve a problem that’s been on the minds of nearly every American this week: Mass shootings in the United States.

Uproxx notes that King calls his proposal “simple.”

King supplies a very “simple” take (he uses that word, too), one that cuts through all the deflecting from Texas Republicans like huffy Sen. Ted Cruz (who walked out of an interview while complaining that people are politicizing the inherently political issue of gun violence) and Gov. Greg Abbott (who couldn’t believe that Beto O’Rourke called him out for doing nothing to stop the madness). These confrontations, while necessary, will likely go nowhere. To that end, King appears to suggest that there’s no changing the minds of these public-facing representatives. Instead, transformation is only possible by pushing them out of office.

Here’s King’s recommendation:

“If the gun protectors in Congress are voted out, things may change. If they retain their seats, nothing will change. Pretty simple.”

King is absolutely correct. And it probably won’t surprise you when you see who has taken the most cash from pro-gun groups, with Aljazeera reporting:

The top recipients so far in 2022 in the US Congress were Republican Senators Rand Paul and John Kennedy, who each received over $38,000 from pro-gun groups, according to OpenSecrets. US House of Representatives Minority Whip Steve Scalise received $25,610 from pro-gun groups during that period.

In 2018, during his re-election bid, Texas Senator Cruz received $311,151 in direct contributions from pro-gun groups.

If every registered Democrat shows up at the polls this November, we can have sensible gun reform that will make all of us safer. We have the power in our hands, and now it’s time to use it.

Categories
Coronavirus GOP

Stephen King: Ron DeSantis Is Evil Enough To Be A Villain In My Novels – But He’s Too Stupid

Novelist Stephen King has created some incredibly memorable villains in his books, but he doesn’t think Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has what it takes to be among them.

As King explained during an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the novelist was asked about some of the tweets he’s sent out recently that were highly critical of DeSantis, and he made it clear that while the governor is certainly evil enough with his absurd COVID-19 policies, he doubts that the Floridian has enough brains to carry off any actual evil plans:

“Ron DeSantis is probably not the brightest bulb in the chandelier at the best of times.”

That led Colbert to ask:

“So, not an evil genius? Not a mastermind?”

King responded:

“No, I wouldn’t say so. You know, he’s got that deer-in-the-headlights look somehow.”

Colbert couldn’t resist adding:

“Deer in the headlights hoping that’s two motorcycles that are going to go right by him.”

It should be noted that King — who is a native of Maine — now spends half the year in Sarasota, so he’s had a chance to observe DeSantis up close, and he’s not impressed, firing off tweets making it clear that he thinks the Florida governor is a few cans short of a six pack:

Or, to put it another way, consider what the AV Club had to say about DeSantis not being fit for a King novel. They pretty much hit the proverbial nail on the head:

“So that’s evil, but is it Stephen King evil? Not according to King, who greeted Colbert’s pitch for a future fictional Florida governor villain with the dismissive shrug of a guy who knows what makes a truly compelling antagonist. After all, your best Stephen King monsters (your Greg Stillsons, your Randall Flaggs) couple their nefarious machinations with a complexity of thought and more than a little charisma, whereas, in King’s authorial estimation, Florida is currently being led by a garden variety venal, callous dope, whose threadbare conservative posturing couldn’t sustain even the shortest tale of terror.”

But if you want to think of something truly terrifying, just imagine Ron DeSantis as president. Now THAT’S enough to give you nightmares.