Musk posted a photo of his bedside table on Monday showing a pair of non-firing guns, a Buddhist amulet and multiple cans of Diet Coke..One of the guns is a non-firing replica of George Washington’s flintlock pistol, in a wooden box with a lid showing an image of Emanuel Leutze’s painting of the first US president crossing the Delaware River. In front of that is a model replica of a Diamond Back .357 revolver from the “Deus Ex: Human Revolution” video game..Musk has been open about his views regarding gun ownership. Last May, he told CNBC he supports the Second Amendment, though “tight background checks” should be required for all purchases..“I strongly believe that the right to bear arms is an important safeguard against potential tyranny of government. Historically, maintaining their power over the people is why those in power did not allow public ownership of guns.”.Also on his bedside table are what appears to be a Tibetan Buddhist amulet known as a Vajra Dorje, used for meditation. The table also had four open cans of caffeine-free Diet Coke and a water bottle..Behind the water bottle appears to be a three-book set of the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation, published by Applewood Books..“My bedside table,” Musk captioned the photo. “There is no excuse for my lack of coasters.”.Think Elon Musk’s $8 per month certification system is no big deal? Think again. According to the Social Shepard, there are 396.5 million users globally. If 10% of those pay the monthly fee, it works out to $3.8 billion a year..Followers of conservative accounts have grown since Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Top Republicans' follower counts grew around three times as many as top Democrats in Congress' counts declined, according to analysis by The Washington Post, using ProPublica's Represent tool..The Post noticed similar trends when Musk announced his intentions to buy Twitter in April..Musk tweeted and pinned a parody meme, trolling liberals and their media counterparts on free speech hypocrisy.."Elon Musk could threaten free speech on Twitter by literally allowing people to speak freely" the meme read. Twitter slapped a disclaimer on the tweet..The Post analyst shows liberals are leaving Twitter, while conservatives are coming back, changing the overall face of the social media platform from more leftist ideology..The ProPublica's tool showed Republicans gained 8,000 followers on average compared to Democrats' 4,000..Musk said new users are signing up to the social media platform at an "all-time high," as he deals with a mass exodus of advertisers and users fleeing to other platforms over concerns about verification and hate speech. He predicts one billion user accounts within a year..Sign-ups were averaging more than two million per day in the last seven days as of Nov. 16, up 66% compared to the same week in 2021, Musk said in a tweet late Saturday..He also said user active minutes were at a record high, averaging nearly eight billion active minutes per day in the last seven days as of Nov. 15, an increase of 30% compared to the same week last year..Apple has threatened to kick Twitter from its app stores, prompting podcast host, Liz Wheeler to tweet, "If Apple & Google boot Twitter from their app stores, @elonmusk should produce his own smartphone. Half the country would happily ditch the biased, snooping iPhone & Android. The man builds rockets to Mars, a silly little smartphone should be easy, right?”."Would you switch to a tELONphone? Vote yes or no with your best pun for a name below," Wheeler added, along with a poll where "yes" is leading with a slim majority of 51%..In his reply, Musk tweeted "I certainly hope it does not come to that, but, yes, if there is no other choice, I will make an alternative phone.".Musk has invited Donald Trump to return to twitter (Trump has said he won’t), but the Chief Twit said he would support Ron DeSantis if Florida's Republican governor were to launch a bid for president..DeSantis, who was re-elected in a landslide during the recent midterm elections, is widely seen as a potential frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024, for which Trump has already declared.."My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist," Musk wrote on Twitter. "I had hoped that would the case for the Biden administration but have been disappointed so far." When a user followed up by asking if he would support DeSantis, Musk replied, "Yes." He also claimed to have been a prior supporter of the Obama-Biden presidency.
