War of tweets erupts between Rep. Ocasio-Cortez, Elon Musk: ‘Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8′
NEW YORK — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocked Elon Musk’s plans to charge for a blue Twitter checkmark, sparking a war of tweets that continued through Wednesday night.
“Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that ‘free speech’ is actually a $8/mo subscription plan,” the New York City Dem quipped on Tuesday night.
Musk directly responded to the tweet on Wednesday, writing, “Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8.” He even pinned the message. Musk also posted a meme that said, “You can still use Twitter for free, just without the benefits.”
He followed that up with a picture of a $58 sweatshirt on Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign website. “Proud of this and always will be,” she responded. “My workers are union, make a living wage, have full health care, and aren’t subject to racist treatment in their workplaces. Items are made in USA. Team AOC honors and respects working people. You should try it sometime instead of union-busting.”
—New York Daily News
The poker scandal is still under investigation. The results likely won’t please anyone
LOS ANGELES — More than a month has passed since an explosive cheating accusation upended the poker world. A final internal investigation report is now not expected until after Thanksgiving. And the results are likely to satisfy almost no one.
The biggest scandal to hit the game in years appears to be headed for an ambiguous conclusion, with no clear-cut answers about what happened — or didn’t — on Sept. 29, when top high-stakes cash player Garrett Adelstein accused newcomer Robbi Jade Lew of cheating in a $269,000 hand that he lost on “Hustler Casino Live.”
“As of today, we have not found any evidence of wrongdoing,” Nick Vertucci, whose company produces the popular YouTube poker show, said in an interview Wednesday. “I could never come out with, ‘100% nothing occurred,’” he added. “I could say, ‘100% we did not find anything and it was absolutely inconclusive.’”
Vertucci expects an open-ended result to infuriate the niche community. Players around the world have been obsessively following the developments and daily gossip of what has been, by all accounts, a bizarre episode in poker history.
—Los Angeles Times
Takeoff shooting: Atlanta mayor says guns, not hip-hop, are the problem
ATLANTA — It’s not hip-hop music leading to violence, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said this week. But there are too many guns ending up in the wrong hands, he said.
“I do not believe that hip-hop equals violence. I grew up on the music. I’m still into the music,” Dickens said in an Instagram post. “Guns plus people being mad equals bad outcomes.”
Dickens said he waited to speak publicly about the death of recording artist Takeoff, whose real name was Kirsnick Khari Bell, until he had spoken to others about the shooting. Takeoff, one-third of the Atlanta group Migos, was killed outside a Houston bowling alley earlier this week, but investigators don’t believe he was the intended target.
The 28-year-old died from gunshots to both the head and torso, according to autopsy findings released Wednesday by The Associated Press. The investigation continues into the shooting and no arrests have been announced.
—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Netanyahu clear winner in Israeli election — Lapid concedes
TEL AVIV, Israel — Benjamin Netanyahu emerged the clear winner in the Israeli elections on Thursday when his right-wing religious bloc secured 64 of the 120 seats in parliament after all the votes had been counted.
The 73-year-old former prime minister's Likud will be the largest party in the Knesset with 32 seats, well ahead of outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid's Future Party on 24 seats, Israeli media reported.
Lapid phoned Netanyahu to wish him "luck for the well-being of the Israeli people and the state of Israel." The state of Israel took precedence above all political considerations, he tweeted after the phone call.
Lapid said he had issued instructions to all the ministerial offices to prepare for an orderly transition of power. For the first time in the country's history, an extreme right-wing alliance took third place. The Religious Zionist Party of Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir gained 14 seats and is seen as a possible kingmaker for Netanyahu.
—dpa
