Kanye West, formally known as Ye, is set to acquire the conservative social media platform Parler just days after getting kicked off Twitter.
Parler’s parent company, Parlement Technologies, announced Monday that “it has entered into an agreement in principle to sell Parler” to Ye, who has been “taking a bold stance against his recent censorship from Big Tech.”
“The terms of the proposed transaction would include ongoing technical support from Parliament and the use of private cloud services via Parliament’s private cloud and data center infrastructure,” the statement continued. Ye and Parliament Technologies are expected to close the deal in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Parler CEO George Farmer said “this deal will change the world.”
It will “change the way the world thinks about free speech. Ye is making a groundbreaking move into the free speech media space and will never have to fear being removed from social media again.”
“In a world where conservative opinions are considered to be controversial we have to make sure we have the right to freely express ourselves,” West said.
Ye was recently removed from Twitter after posting an antisemitic tweet. In the now-deleted tweet, Ye said he was “going death con 3 [sic] On JEWISH PEOPLE.” His account was locked for violating Twitter’s policies.
Ye has since made several other antisemitic remarks, including saying that Jewish people are responsible for doing “bad business” in Hollywood.
Kanye West is determined to keep on wearing his “White Lives Matter” t-shirt, which he sported at his Paris Fashion Week show, despite fierce backlash from the public and within his own entertainment industry. His point is not in the least that black lives don’t matter. Instead, he is distancing himself from and countering the woke hatred of the Marxist,thieving, destructive Black Lives Matter movement, which did nothing for black Americans. West’s shirt also achieves something else: it provides the picture of a successful and wealthy black man in America who embraces the white population. This is a nightmare for the woke. While they convulse in rage over West’st-shirt, along comes another problem for them: entertainment icon Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has stepped up in support of West.
Although Diddy stated that the t-shirts were “very tone-deaf,” he also stated that people “don’t have to condemn Kanye or cancel him.”
Vanity Fair described P Diddy as “the artist and mogul” who is “defining his next era,” and goes on:
The man who turned hip-hop culture into a global lifestyle brand in the go-go 1990s has a lot to think about during the cultural upheaval of the 2020s. “I am the happiest I’ve ever been in life, I laugh the most, I smile the most, I breathe the most,” he tells me. In a word, Combs has love on his mind.
It doesn’t behoove the woke, the Black Lives Matter movement, or its political and financial supporters, to see a black man happy. IfBLM operated from a place of respect and love for blacks, its core vision would align with that of Martin Luther King Jr., to unite whites and blacks. BLM should also be advocating against the genocide of blacks in Nigeria and for the victims of black-on-black crime in inner cities, and confronting the epidemic of single parent households in the black community. Instead, the group zeroes in on the perpetual narrative of white oppression of blacks, stirring up interracial tensions and undermining the rule of law, all while lining their pockets, helped along by the ADL, which states on its website:
“White Lives Matter” is a white supremacist phrase that originated in early 2015 as a racist response to the Black Lives Matter movement, which arose to protest against police brutality against African-Americans and garnered considerable publicity in 2014 for protests in Ferguson, Missouri, following the shooting death of Michael Brown at the hands of a Ferguson police officer.
In the view of the ADL, Kanye West is supporting “white supremacy,” and Diddy is encouraging it. The ADL has lost its way.
The woke have been trying in vain to downplay Diddy’s support. Years ago, Diddy faced his own backlash when he stated:
“Yes #BLACKLIVESMATTER ! But no one will respect us if we as a people don’t have any respect for our own black lives. We are committing genocide on ourselves. We are always looking for scapegoats.”
“Everyone knows Black Lives Matter was a scam,” Kanye said. He’s right. The Black Lives Matter movement was built on the lie that Michael Brown was a poor defenseless victim of a racist police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2015. The myth that he submitted and was shot anyway — “Hands up, don’t shoot” — was a lie. Physical evidence showed that Brown attacked Officer Darren Wilson and attempted to get his gun before he was shot.
Back in June, BLM refused to help a black Chicago pastor raise money for community center for youth education and job training, while the group’s leaders squandered millions of dollars.
If racism and discrimination are to be countered in Western society, it should be from the standpoint that “all lives matter.” America is long past the civil rights area. Immigration and multiculturalism have also contributed to rapid change. The BLM portrait of America is inconsistent with the America that voted in a black president, while Arab countries, Iran, China and the like are not likely to vote in a member of a visible minority anytime soon. Divisive, woke propagandists and Marxist ideologues are narrow-minded; hate the West and are driven to tear it down. Kudos to Kanye West and Diddy. Diddy’s support of Kanye West also represents support for truth and free speech. The ability to reasonably discuss dissent is the mark of a civilized society, which the Left has significantly eroded with violence, intimidation, lies and suppression.
Joe Rogan is just the latest in a long list of celebrities to say goodbye to La La Land.
California dreaming? Nothing wrong with that. The Golden State has a lot to offer.
California has the fifth largest economy in the world. The San Francisco Bay Area alone has a GDP of $535 billion and ranks 19th in the world in economic activity. The state boasts one of the largest agricultural industries on the planet, producing more grapes, lemons, avocados, peaches, watermelons, and strawberries than any US state.
And let’s not forget movies. They contribute about $50 billion dollars annually to California’s economy—and nearly 2.5 million jobs.
Still, California has its downsides. It has thehighest poverty rate in the US. It’s among the most heavily taxed states—the top income tax bracket is 13.3 percent—and is America’s most regulated state, according to the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Its biggest cities suffer from housing shortages, mass homelessness, and congestion.
And then there’s the whole, er, poop crisis thing.
So while California has a lot to offer, its demographics are beginning to head in the wrong direction. Last year, the state’s population growth hit a historic low. There’s talk of a middle class exodus and the death of Hollywood.
In recent years, there’s even a growing number of celebrities saying goodbye to Golden State, including a big name recently. There’s nothing wrong with people “voting with their feet” to establish residence in freedom-friendly states; it’s one of the beauties of the American system. It does show, however, that high taxes and regulations can result in wealth emigration that drives out a lot of capital that supports local jobs and businesses.
Here’s a list of just a few stars who’ve headed for greener (or at least, not quite so “fertilized”) pastures in recent years.
Joe Rogan on the Move to Texas
Fresh off of signing a $100 million deal with Spotify in May, comedian and podcaster Joe Rogan made headlines in July by announcing he and his family were moving to Texas.
Rogan has lived in California more than 25 years. He moved to Los Angeles in 1994 and shortly thereafter began appearing TV shows like News Radio. As recently as 2018 he purchased a new home in Bell Canyon for nearly $5 million. That didn’t stop him from leaving though, and he offered some telling reasons.
“I just want to go somewhere in the center of the country … somewhere where you have a little more freedom,” said Rogan. “When you look at the economic despair, when you look at the homelessness problem that has accelerated radically over the last six, seven, ten years … I think there’s too many people here. I think it’s not tenable.”
To be clear, California’s problems do not stem from its high number of people. Humans are one of the greatest resources on the planet. California’s problems stem more from a political and regulatory system that has stifled growth, accumulated massive debts, and suffers from a bureaucratic climate that renders many cities dysfunctional and virtually unlivable.
But whatever his reasons, it’s clear the move will save Rogan gobs of cash. Texas has zero state income taxes compared to California’s top bracket of 13.3 percent. Apply that rate to $100 million and … well, do the math.
Kim and Kanye Saving a Bundle Wyoming
In the fall of 2019, rumors began swirling that Kanye West and wife Kim Kardashian were giving up on California after it was reported that the rapper had purchased a $14 million “monster ranch” in Cody, Wyoming.
The rumors amplified when the couple announced they had closed on another ranch property near Cody—this one 6,713 acres and valued at $14.5 million—and were touring local schools for their children.
During a 2019 interview (26:30 mark in video below), Kanye hinted that he found the Golden State’s regulatory structure stifling and irritating, noting that regulators told him his Star Wars-inspired domes for the homeless violated government codes.
“One of the domes was 10 feet too high,” said West, speaking at the 2019 Fast Company Innovation Festival. “They came and said, ‘You got to take it down.’”
It’s hard to blame an innovator like West for being irritated by red tape. But it probably wasn’t his only reason for leaving.
“Kimye” stand to save a bundle if they live more than 183 days a year in Wyoming. Reports estimate the West paid some $15 million in state income taxes in 2018 alone.
The Cowboy State, on the other hand, has zero state income taxes.
Chris Hemsworth’s Life ‘Down Under’
Chris Hemsworth is today one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, even though he no longer lives there. In 2015, the same year Avengers: Age of Ultron was released, the Australian-born actor announced he was moving back Down Under with his family, since he no longer had to be in Hollywood to land movie roles.
‘We were in LA for six or seven years and then once we got the opportunity not to be there full-time, it was good to get back to Australia,” said Hemsworth. “And it’s great. Quiet, coastal town – [it] couldn’t be further from Hollywood, which is nice.”
Quiet. Coastal. And far from Hollywood. The perfect place for Thor Odinson to retire after his battles with Thanos.
Future Governor Matthew McConaughey?
Matthew McConaughey took home an Oscar in 2014 for his role as Ron Woodroof in the 2013 biographical drama The Dallas Buyers Club, but by that time the Dazed and Confused actor had already sold most if not all of his homes in the Hollywood Hills.
McConaughey and wife Camila Alves, married in 2012, have lived in Austin, Texas for years with their three children. McConaughey, who was born in Texas, in 2015 joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin where he works as an instructor in the department of radio, television and film at the Moody College of Communication.
Rumor has it McConaughey is even considering a run for governor of the Lone Star State in 2022. We don’t know McConaughey’s politics—he keeps his views famously close to the vest—but based on some of his comments following the 2016 election, odds are he’ll have a better chance in Texas than California.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’s ‘Idyllic Life’ in New York
One of Hollywood’s most famous power couples, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively don’t actually live in Hollywood. Though Reynolds and his first wife Scarlet Johannson were California residents—Reynolds filed for divorse in Los Angeles in 2010—the Green Lantern stars (sorry to bring that one up) decided Hollywood wasn’t where they wanted to raise their family.
In 2012, the same year the couple married, Lively and Reynolds purchased a $5.7 million home near Bedford, New York. Nestled on 11.65 acres, the colonial-style mansion reportedly is 8,000 square feet and has seven bedrooms and six bathrooms. The property even comes with a barn.
Taxes in New York aren’t much better than California, but the couple seems to have found a beautiful place to raise their three children. Reports say they have made quite an impression on the community.
“[L]ocals describe them as extremely nice and well-liked,” E! Newsreported. “They have a bit of a routine around town that can only be described as, well, idyllic.”
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban Loving Life in the (Income Tax Free) Volunteer State
Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban didn’t exactly leave California. They still keep a home there, a $4.7 million mansion in Beverly Hills purchased in 2008. But the couple, married in 2006, seems to collect homes the way other people collect stamps.
There are the two homes in Australia: a $6.5 million farm in Bunya Hill and a penthouse in Sydney.
There’s the mansion in Nashville the couple purchased for $3.4 million in 2008.
And let’s not forget the $10 million Manhattan condo the Days of Thunder and country music start purchased in 2010.
Despite their many dwellings, the couple has called Nashville, Tennessee their home for years. And that’s a smart move financially speaking. The Volunteer State has a zero percent income tax rate, which went a long way toward allowing the couple to accrue an aggregate net worth estimated at $325 million.
Jonathan Miltimore is the Managing Editor of FEE.org. His writing/reporting has been the subject of articles in TIME magazine, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Forbes, Fox News, and the Star Tribune. Bylines: The Washington Times, MSN.com, The Washington Examiner, The Daily Caller, The Federalist, the Epoch Times. He previously served in editorial roles at The History Channel magazine, Intellectual Takeout, and Scout. He is an alumni of the Institute for Humane Studies journalism program, a former reporter for the Panama City News Herald, and served as an intern in the speechwriting department of George W. Bush.
http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.png00Foundation for Economic Education (FEE)http://drrich.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/logo_264x69.pngFoundation for Economic Education (FEE)2020-08-05 06:41:012020-08-05 06:43:30VIDEOS: Celebrities (Besides Joe Rogan) Who Said Goodbye to California
