Christie Smythe
@ChristieSmythe
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Writer/editor biz, law, tech. Reporting for @ipvideo. Alum of @Bagehots, @mujschool. Also tweets about prisons & crime. Author of SMIRK & BLACK SHEEP.
New York
Joined December 2008
Is it not weird that somehow "free speech" has become a "right-wing" cause? I can't be the only progressive person who thinks this. Like, I'm NOT A REPUBLICAN. And yet people somehow think I lean "right" just because I care a lot about free speech. This is disturbing.
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@anothercohen Hahahahaha. Do you know what the BEST thing is you can do without kids? . Nothing. It’s glorious. (Kids are also great…to be fair.).
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@Layan_FC If I saw a guest do this at a wedding reception I’d be impressed. Not at the Olympics. 🤦♀️.
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Someone is definitely missing out on the fun today.
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Wait, did you all JUST learn that a lot of pilots are conservatives??? . Well, they are. I don’t think it makes a difference what airline you fly. It’s like looking for a newspaper not mostly staffed with liberals.
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@chrissyfarr She had a normal mammogram. I think this also raises questions about the limitations of mammograms. I used to think these were somehow a magic tool to see everything…then I got one answer realized they have major limitations. (Not that you shouldn’t get one.).
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I realize it's hard for many people to accept that 1. Martin is not a psychopath, and 2. a woman can choose to do something with her life (which does not affect you) that you in no way approve of. But that's OK.
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@RachelJessWolff It’s a real thing. Being able to see the door from your bed reduces anxiety. Even if there’s zero chance of anyone ambushing you in your sleep, it’s sort of a primal fear.
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@helaineolen Actually this take makes sense. The Venn diagram of the people “who think the city is out of control” and the people bothered by the smell of weed is probably a circle.
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@LayahHeilpern Meanwhile, elsewhere on the internet two other billionaires are challenging each other to a cage fight. It's not suspicious or far-fetched. Rich boys will be rich boys.
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@TheJeditor At least one Allen wrench. Maybe two. A single earring. Some loose glitter and/or sequins. Several different caps to different kinds of bottles. A broken corkscrew. Random string.
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@jeremymstamper The @ACLU of today no longer would stand up for unpopular speech. And that really worries me.
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Meet an anonymous OTC stock trader on Twitter who claims to be a crypto billionaire. (Q&A with @ClairvoyantINVT).
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@wamblingaphid The framing of the question supports my point. If you presume speech is free, you don’t ask what is “supported” or “allowed.” Instead, there is a very high bar to what is not allowed. (Like “clear and present danger,” etc.).
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@kath_walsh @TheCut It’s very tough for women to be criminal defense lawyers, especially representing high-profile defendants. Rather than take a hard look at situation, you and @TheCut went for the cheap shot…which is actually NOT empowering for women at all. Think harder next time, please.
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@thechosenberg Saliva neutralizes acid and helps protect tooth enamel. Also I’m 40 and I’ve still had no cavities, thus far.
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In my experience (and yes, I have some experience), attitudes like Laura’s are by far more damaging to women in journalism than occasional line-crossing (which is barely a blip on the radar when male journalists do it). Laura is upholding a double standard and Puritan norms.
The damage Olivia Nuzzi has done to actual, professional women journalists cannot be overstated.
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Disturbing. Is the FBI setting fires just to take credit for putting them out? Should be a concern no matter what your politics are.
Two Buzzfeed reporters -- @kenbensinger and @jvgarrison -- continue to do superb investigative work showing the FBI's extreme & disturbing involvement in and direction of the Michigan "plot" to kidnap Gov. Whitmer. Their latest discoveries are here:.
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@USMiniTru @tarapalmeri A biologist, especially one with a uterus, might be better on this panel.
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Going public is such a relief, no matter what people think. You have no idea how hard it is to keep this kind of a story bottled up. So messy and complicated. I'm glad it was told well.
Am I only one who feels sorry for @ChristieSmythe? Hoping that she sorts through everything & ends up whole on other side. Probably worst decision she made was cooperating with this article, as bad choices would have otherwise been lost to sands of time.
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@amychozick This guy makes the best point, I think. Humanizing a criminal is a very radical thing to do (clearly, as indicated by the ratio). But it shouldn't be. EVERYONE (not just pretty white women) should be eligible for similar treatment. We all deserve to be treated as individuals.
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Print journalism: Don’t eat the conference food lest you give the impression of being too cozy with your sources!. Cable TV journalism: Yes, please, interview your governor brother. Talk about who mom loves the most.
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It was never @JohnEDeaton1's plan to become a thorn in the side of the SEC, calling into question the agency’s enforcement approach to the roughly $2 trillion cryptocurrency market. But now that's exactly what he does, in representing 20,000 XRP holders.
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Since mid-April, researchers around the world have been looking into using leprosy drug clofazimine for COVID-19. Martin Shkreli beat them, drafting that proposal from prison in March. The government called him "delusional." .
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I've lived in New York for 12 years. I've seen (and dated) far more narcissistic people than Martin.
@ChristieSmythe Hi, I fell for a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder before, I know what you're going through. Your wakeup will come, and it'll be difficult and painful, you'll wonder how you could have been so delusional, and hopefully in the end, you'll find your way to full healing.
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@littlemissjacob @stoolpresidente It’s clearly manipulative at the very least. Journalists will NEVER EVER admit to “manipulating,” but they will do this….
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@AlpacaAurelius How is everyone like “ewww, liver” and not “ewww, why are you seeking this much control over another adult human?”.
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Housing complex evacuated “after a cluster of Covid-19 infections was found spanning several floors, with authorities investigating whether pipes were spreading the virus.”.
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@RVAwonk Let’s save these conversations for AFTER all the women filmed with blood-drenched sweat pants are returned to their families. I try to triage issues of concern. Women actually brutally raped rank above broader sociological concerns about unfair villain portrayals.
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@AttorneyCrump I've definitely walked up to clerks and talked to them before without anyone threatening to tase me. I'm not even a lawyer. I'm a journalist. But I guess I get to do that because I'm white. Good lord, this video. .
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That also means there are currently tens of millions of Americans who are struggling with the pain and difficulty of having a loved one in this situation. The ripple effects are profound.
Do you know how many people are locked up in America? 2.3 million. Really think about that. 2.3 million people locked in cells. Think about what that does to a person psychologically, to their communities. Think about what that says about the country that does that to its people.
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@HenMazzig Honestly, given what they’ve been through getting an anti-panic attack sedative sounds humane. Clonazepam is frequently prescribed for acute anxiety. Not a date rape drug. I hope you either research and edit or this gets @CommunityNotes added.
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@ABC7NY You do not need experts to answer the question in this tweet. This tweet is dumb clickbait bordering on journalistic malpractice.
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@charlottetklein I can’t fathom the reporters are the ones most responsible for breaking the embargo. Maybe I’m wrong, but editors have a lot of power at @business.
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@therealmissjo @CassandraRules This is interesting. She apparently didn’t want to argue with the “man of color” because that would interfere with the overly simplistic good v. evil narrative she is trying to convey. But life isn’t a simple narrative.
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“Drag Story Hour.” Nothing remotely sexually explicit. Just drag queens reading to children, fully clothed, at a library. This kind of response has nothing to do with protecting kids and everything to do with hate.
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@DanielEllsberg @POTUS @TheJusticeDept Related point: If anyone reading this ever serves on a criminal jury, and you find the case morally objectionable, you have the power to not convict. Even if the “offenses” were committed. It’s called “jury nullification,” and the gov won’t tell you about it. But you can do it.
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@nw3 @JoshuaOgundu I would say artists start moving in before it’s gentrified. (Remember, they’re usually broke.) But when galleries start popping up having wine socials and selling works for thousands of dollars, yeah, you’re getting there.
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@hakeemjeffries This is why politicians rarely accomplish criminal justice reform. Because they always abandon principles in the name of politics.
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@KyleHooten2 You guys do realize women, especially those living in any urban area, have always been following some version of these safety tips. ? They’re not THAT shocking.
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@jbouie "Actively deceived by the writer"??. @benshapiro if I could find a gif of when the aliens on Galaxy Quest express confusion at the concept of "fiction," I'd be using it right now.
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Thank you again to @ELLEmagazine for letting me tell my crazy tale. It takes bravery, too, to publish it. It still amazes me HOW HARD it is to get a story as messy and complicated as this to see the light of day. But it's out now. At least that's done.
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@zei_squirrel I don’t recall a part in Star Wars where Luke, Yoda, or Obi Wan endorsed butchering and torturing families and children. Where was that?.
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@BeccaLizz I’m sorry but there is a zero percent chance your life will be improved by keeping parents and kids separated. Do you really want to spent a flight with parents reaching over you to make sure their kids have whatever they need? You’re just increasing everyone’s misery.
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@ASFleischman Aw. So cold. So precocious. Fair warning, she might grow up to enjoy Ayn Rand novels.
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Oh look, it’s a male doctor who confuses “well tolerated” with “women, socialized to be nice, are not actively punching you in the face.” Dude, you deserve to be roasted for this. Every woman I’ve ever talked to who got an IUD found the experience totally horrifying.
@joshmcgoo The issue is that for most patients, insertion/removal is totally uneventful with just foundational analgesia by mouth. Same for endometrial biopsies, LEEP, cervical biopsies at colposcopy, etc. So it would be inefficient over-treatment to routinely do differently.
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A billionaire is NOT a “policy failure.” The lack of meaningful growth in wages for most working people is, however.
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If you discard a significant source of information because it's "inconvenient" for your narrative, it's entirely possible your narrative is pretty far from the truth.
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Alright, I’m trying this “going private” thing just to see what happens. I have had engagement go up before when I went private…but that may also have been because I was “trending” for past relationship-related reasons, so…. Do you see this tweet?.
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One of the biggest lies we’re told is that “criminals” are all psychopathic monsters. Most people in prison are just f*ck ups, often with some mental health issues, often just not being great at life. In other words, not vastly different from the rest of us.
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The irony is it takes an unbelievably mentally strong person to come forward when the world is watching and say you need to take a break to take care of your mental health.
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@MartynMcClure @ggreenwald If this rule was actually enforced as stated, half of Twitter users would be banished for things they have posted about my ex-boyfriend. But also: she was dead when this was tweeted. I don’t think the rule it applies in that circumstance.
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Here’s the dark, twisted thing: a woman can show a mountain of evidence supporting her claims. But as soon as a white dude says “that’s wrong,” people will listen to him instead. The New Yorker is undoubtedly aware of this dynamic.
So I was waiting for another hit piece to drop before responding to the @Gawker piece, but feel like it’s important to respond to this now. But first, does the @NewYorker still have a fact-checking dept?? Does @Gawker? So buckle up, kids—this will be a long one….
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The MSM does a good job of maintaining its image as a heroic protector of democracy. It’s usually snarky and spiteful toward any book, movie, article which paints it as a villain. (E.g. see reviews of “Don’t Look Up.”) . Harry’s “Spare” is a decent challenge to the status quo.
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The last few years have been incredibly difficult for me -- no less scary now with COVID raging through the prison system, including in Martin's prison now. @stephcliff did a fantastic job telling this story, warts and all. It's raw and real, the backstory behind everything.
I don't think I've ever green lit a story so quickly! And trust me, you're going to want to read this til the very end—quite a twist!. Thank you @stephcliff for bringing this to us, and to @ChristieSmythe for trusting us to tell your story!
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@averagedic47310 @thechosenberg It does not. But hopefully it makes the post a little less terrifying.
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@hashjenni It’s not irrational. Some women do actually deliberately do that. However, men could probably avoid these traps better than they do.
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@katrosenfield Because it was never about principle. It was about achieving power through a villain/victim paradigm.
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@RottenInDenmark @ParkerMolloy It’s because it’s not just one thing. It’s a whole vast compendium of things, and every time there’s a new one it sets everyone off. I really didn’t intend to start out disliking her…but I’ve seen her bully people (and been bullied by her).
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Anyone who thinks you can actually stop free markets from doing their thing should study prison contraband economies.
In case you have ever wondered how much prison wine costs, this jug (six cups) is $25. That bottle of bleach was $45 on the prison black market. Even in a pandemic, it’s contraband. It would be $3 to $6 in the free world.
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How many times have you heard complaints about people with different political viewpoints seeming to operate with different facts? . We look into @balajis' vision of a blockchain-based "ledger of record," that would eliminate this problem.
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I knew property owners were holding back units, but I didn’t realize HOW MUCH those tactics could affect prices in the country’s most expensive real estate market until I read this. Like De Beers did with diamonds….
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Amazing how many media headlines boil down to: “Some people are not happy about something.” . I feel like journalism can (and should) be more interesting and useful than this.
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Normalize treating EVERYONE with basic human decency. Even people you dislike, people who committed crimes, and people you are arguing with on Twitter, etc.
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@telmudic I honestly don’t understand how most of the human species reproduces. How do you all find it easier to post this stuff to Reddit instead of just having an open discussion with your partner about whatever it is you want or don’t want?.
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@unusual_whales Yeah, ok. If we’re going to hell as a society we might as well make the ride as fun as possible.
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@CassandraRules Until insurers get hit severely with losses and stop providing coverage to certain areas or certain risks, or jack up rates substantially. People forget that’s what happens when there are a lot of claims.
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Working from home is still going ok, but my coworker is very lazy
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@BriannaWu The anti-colonization movement that’s trendy now among Western young people seems to condone or even endorse violence. I’m sure you’ve seen plenty of examples of this. They’re obviously not helping.
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@bariweiss IMO, if you are going to restrict speech, it seems acceptable to draw the line at speech that creates imminent threat of bodily harm, ie doxxing. But whatever policies and restrictions there are, I hope they are enforced across the board and not based on personal biases.
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@aayoub It is a very sad thing. Unfortunately, my first question would have to be: Was it being used to store rockets and other ammunition? If so, Hamas already desecrated this holy site.
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@ChristinaPushaw The amount of people who just lurk on the internet looking for opportunities to say hurtful things is really insane. I can't think of a public figure or successful content creator who hasn't encountered this phenomenon. I think it's symptomatic of rampant mental health issues.
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@ruthhook_ Eh, maybe for some. A decade of adulthood is what it takes for the narrative to start to be interesting in some instances. Or maybe you start feeling insecure at that point that you haven’t done “enough” or something so you stop putting yourself out there.
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Blockchain-based games are now letting users “play to earn.” Here’s why that makes Silicon Valley VCs so excited.
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I have heard that a lot of people have been harassed more here in the chaotic Musk era. I don’t doubt that’s true, and I’m sorry to hear it. I have been harassed substantially less, though. Which suggests to me that most of the hate I got came from the left. Interesting.
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@LauraChapin Yes, you can. You’re overstating it. You support women in journalism by not treating them like they’re Hester Prynne for essentially doing things male journalists can do without repercussions (in this case, I’m guessing just sending some flirty emails and texts).
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@stillgray Hell yes. We've been stealing the best water in the state (from upstate) since the 1800s.
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@ChristinaPushaw @ElijahSchaffer Yep, my thoughts exactly. She could be wearing sweats. Her confidence adds a lot to the appeal.
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True story: the advice is DON’T TALK TO THE FBI (especially when you might be under investigation) WITHOUT A LAWYER.
new podcast with the unstoppable @ChristieSmythe, in which we give you some genuinely useful legal advice.
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@jhaubein @NateSilver538 From a purely principles-based standpoint, libertarianism is attractive. But the movement itself is heavily dominated by white men, many of whom lack empathy for others (and are openly hostile or controlling toward women). That’s a problem.
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@_nomadic_soul It has not been my practice to give men who are this insulting the time of day. You’ve already spent too much energy on them.
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Mass incarceration will fight to protect itself. By any means necessary.
44 DAs in CA are suing the state to halt an emergency measure to reduce the number of people in prison—while the state is on trial for recklessly disregarding the health of prisoners during the pandemic
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@AndrewYang Visiting someone I care about in prison, and hopefully being able to at least hug him and see his face.
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