# Now that Elon Musk has bought Twitter - now the Pit edition (Part 1) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 25, 2022, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442 "2022-04-25T22:50:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 333
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6646 "2023-09-13T03:03:57Z")
Ukraine has tonight attacked the naval shipyard in Sevastopol. Coincidence? > > > ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6647 "2023-09-13T03:05:24Z")
I think at this point, Ukraine must consider Starlink unreliable at best, and might consider Elon Musk a hostile foreign agent at worst. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6648 "2023-09-13T04:15:26Z")
You all just don’t appreciate how much Elmo has contributed to Ukraine, and how he bravely and singlehandedly saved the world from a nuclear holocaust. In all seriousness, maybe this is Elmo looking at every possible way to deescalate the war by taking his good Malaysian pal’s advice to punish Ukraine by turning off their Starlink in retaliation for the Ukrainian attack. It certainly wasn’t to interfere with this attack on Sevastopol, the Ukrainians clearly learned to not rely on Starlink and Elmo not shutting it off after last year’s attacks on Sevastopol. And I’ll just reiterate how disgusting it is that Russia is using ships from the Black Sea Fleet to attack Ukrainian port infrastructure and grain storage silos with cruise missiles to disrupt food distribution to the poorest countries in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6649 "2023-09-13T04:20:43Z")
> [@Dissonance](#): > > And I’ll just reiterate how disgusting it is that Russia is using ships from the Black Sea Fleet to attack Ukrainian port infrastructure and grain storage silos with cruise missiles to disrupt food distribution to the poorest countries in the world. As long as they can’t pass the pencil test, I don’t think Elmo’s too worried about them. > **[Pencil test (South Africa)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil_test_(South_Africa))** > > The pencil test is a method of assessing whether a person has Afro-textured hair. In the pencil test, a pencil is pushed through the person's hair. How easily it comes out determines whether the person has "passed" or "failed" the test. > This test was used to determine racial identity in South Africa during the apartheid era, distinguishing whites from coloureds and blacks. The test was partially responsible for splitting existing communities and families along perceived racial lines. Its ... ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6650 "2023-09-13T05:22:49Z")
What would it take, legally, for the U.S. government to seize control of Starlink in the name of national security? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6651 "2023-09-13T07:01:24Z")
Outside of wartime? They could probably claim eminent domain over the company, but they’d still have to pay fair market value for it, and it’d probably be tied up in the courts for years (or until Elmo is required to testify under oath at which point he’ll cave immediately). ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6652 "2023-09-13T07:38:24Z")
I’m just saying, governments really don’t like it when their own citizens conduct their own private foreign policies. I’m sure they have legal or other measures in place to prevent cases like this. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6653 "2023-09-13T07:40:54Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m sure they have legal or other measures in place to prevent cases like this. In the US that would be the Logan Act, but I’m no big-city lawyer so I don’t know whether it applies to Elmo’s antics. > **[Logan Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan_Act)** > > The Logan Act (1 Stat. 613, 18 U.S.C. § 953, enacted January 30, 1799 (1799-01-30)) is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized negotiations from undermining the government's position. The Act was passed following George Logan's unauthorized negotiations with France in 1798, and was signed into law by President John Adams on J On... ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6654 "2023-09-13T09:17:36Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > the woke-mind virus, which is fundamentally anti-science, anti-merit and anti-human in general Truer words have never…wait, what? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6655 "2023-09-13T12:15:12Z")
Tsarlink: > ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6656 "2023-09-13T12:23:54Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Elmo decrees that criticizing him is treason against the United States. Dang. He and Traitor Tan the Conman are reading from the same playbook. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6657 "2023-09-13T14:41:17Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > He and Traitor Tan the Conman are reading from the same playbook. That’s what happens when you’re on the same team. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6658 "2023-09-13T15:40:50Z")
Not necessarily Twitter but another venture -Neuralink. It’s The Onion but in the American Voices section which is real news. > **[Musk: Monkeys Implanted With Neuralink Brain Chips Were Already ‘Close To Death’](https://www.theonion.com/musk-monkeys-implanted-with-neuralink-brain-chips-were-1850831777)** > > Elon Musk has denied reports that his brain-implant startup Neuralink killed monkeys during research experiments, claiming instead that tests were only done on “terminal” primates. What do you think? “You would think a billionaire could afford nicer monkeys.” CODY ZWEGAT, NUTRITION LABELER “Some people will find a reason to complain no matter how old the monkeys you torture are.” SERGIO ABADI, GUNK SCRAPER “I can think of at least 20 better uses for a dying monkey.” ALAINA FOSTER, SHOW PROMOTER ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6659 "2023-09-13T16:28:01Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > As long as they can’t pass the pencil test, I don’t think Elmo’s too worried about them. Huh. The only Pencil Test I’d encountered before involved whether you should wear a bra. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6660 "2023-09-13T17:39:51Z")
How does that work? ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6661 "2023-09-13T17:47:33Z")
> **[Pencil test (breasts)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil_test_(breasts))** > > A pencil test is an informal test of breast development and the need to wear a bra conceived by the pseudonymous advice columnist Ann Landers. > A pencil stick is placed in the inframammary fold, the point at which the underside of the breasts attach to the chest wall. If the pencil does not fall, the woman has "failed the pencil test"\[citation needed\] and needs to wear a bra. The supposition is that breasts that are not pendulous are self-supporting and do not need the added support of a bra. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6662 "2023-09-13T17:59:37Z")
[![](https://i0.wp.com/boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1652cbCOMIC-musk-starlink.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1) ](https://i0.wp.com/boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1652cbCOMIC-musk-starlink.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1) ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6663 "2023-09-13T18:35:01Z")
At least Musk is aware that people are calling him a supervillain: > ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6664 "2023-09-13T20:21:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’m just saying, governments really don’t like it when their own citizens conduct their own private foreign policies. I’m sure they have legal or other measures in place to prevent cases like this. My, it sure is good timing that Elmo just clarified his citizenship by announcing anyone criticizing him is committing treason. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442/6665 "2023-09-13T20:39:35Z")
> [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](#): > > [Pencil test (breasts) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil_test_(breasts)) Since this is the Pit, where we go off on wild tangents all over the place (but hopefully not too excessively!) I cannot resist posting this entry from the Bulwer-Lytton Bad Writing Collection. I think it won at least some sort of runner-up prize: 😁 > Her pendulous breasts swung first to the left, then to the right and finally in independent directions, much like semaphore signals, and although he couldn’t understand semaphore, Kyle was sure they were saying, “Never ride the Tilt-A-Whirl with your grandma.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=332) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-that-elon-musk-has-bought-twitter-now-the-pit-edition-part-1/963442.md?page=334)