How did the topic of Khashoggi even come up? Pretty sure the reason he was killed was some internal Saudi stuff.
Pretty sure the atrocities in Myanmar, North Korea, and tsarist Russia we're also due to "internal stuff".
Uber CEO calls Saudi murder of Khashoggi “a mistake,” scrambles to backtrack
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Re: Uber CEO calls Saudi murder of Khashoggi “a mistake,” scrambles to backtrack
#52There were so many other things he could have said and not created this maelstrom – "Of course Mr. Khashoggi's murder was reprehensible and inexcusable, but we're told by the Crown Prince that it was a rogue operation, and we trust that's the case. If a member of our board were involved in this sort of heinous act, I would be asking for his or her resignation." But he didn't, and squirmed with a few "well, you're obv…
This isn't the traditional learning on the job. He won't be given any second chances. I expect he'll resign or be fired by tomorrow.
I'm sorry, what? Have you been paying attention? 24 hours from now almost no one will be talking about this.
Re: Uber CEO calls Saudi murder of Khashoggi “a mistake,” scrambles to backtrack
#53At least this is in the article too: After the interview aired, the Uber head tried to disassociate himself from it, saying he had misspoken. “I said something in the moment that I do not believe,” Khosrowshahi said in a statement Monday. “When it comes to Jamal Khashoggi, his murder was reprehensible and should not be forgotten or excused.”
> “I said something in the moment that I do not believe” Sure he didn't. This is like a political version of Schrödinger's Douchebag. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMabpBvtXr4
Not to gotcha this, but "I'm someone whose statements should not be taken to heart" is not a message I'd want to convey in an apology.
Then again, corporate communication is often a game of being as cynical as you can get away without getting arrested or having your business shut down, so maybe there's some meta-honesty here.
Re: Uber CEO calls Saudi murder of Khashoggi “a mistake,” scrambles to backtrack
#54As a non-native speaker, I'm confused and irritated that the word "compare" is used in the meaning "equate". In math, I can compare any scalar value to any other scalar value; what I can't do is equate them. Is it indeed used incorrectly in this context, or am I missing something?
In this case “compare” is used in a less formal way, basically “these things are in the same category”.
If the speaker had said “those things can’t be compared” that would mean one was so much worse than the other that they weren’t even in the same category.
It’s the same sense of the word you might use in the saying “you can’t compare apples and oranges.” The conditions that make an apple good are not the same as the conditions that make an orange good.
Re: Uber CEO calls Saudi murder of Khashoggi “a mistake,” scrambles to backtrack
#55Oh yeah, Saudi's brutally tortured and murdered Khashoggi, Uber's self-driving car ran over a woman, and I forgot to take out the trash this week on trash day. All mistakes, all equal. Are we going to hold this over their heads forever, it was /just a mistake/.... /s "I didn't read the CIA report" well neither did I but from the coverage alone I would never call this a "mistake". Also they own 1/5th of your company,…
I agree with you but in my opinion this could be seen as another symptom of societies with proliferating unaccountable leaders (in the so-called free world). We may think of some as harmless showmans that are all bark and no bite but they are dangerous precisely because they set precedents with what they say, how they behave and especially because of the lack of consequences thereof. We can only hope that it's about to change...
Re: Uber CEO calls Saudi murder of Khashoggi “a mistake,” scrambles to backtrack
#56As a non-native speaker, I'm confused and irritated that the word "compare" is used in the meaning "equate". In math, I can compare any scalar value to any other scalar value; what I can't do is equate them. Is it indeed used incorrectly in this context, or am I missing something?
It is the correct usage and it is not used to mean “equate” in this case.
compare - ”estimate, measure, or note the similarity or dissimilarity between”
To use the word “equate” may go a step too far because he did not actually say that the two are equal, he said that they were both mistakes. Saying that he “compared” rather than “equated” invites less criticism of their reporting.
Sorry you were downvoted for asking for language clarification. An anti-Saudi story will attract those with general anti-foreigner sentiment who like to police the comments to make sure we’re all red-blooded, freedom-loving flag-wavers. This one will also attract anti-capitalists, so it could be quite a rollercoaster.
Sorry for the idioms.
Re: Uber CEO calls Saudi murder of Khashoggi “a mistake,” scrambles to backtrack
#57Wow, just to restate this conversation in a different way: the ceo of a major company would rather remind the world of the time their car _killed_ someone then condemn a murder by one of his investors. Good on the journalist for asking tough questions and not letting him weasel out.
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." I feel that quote describes a lot of the current issues in Silicon Valley.
This definitely reminds me of the scene where Gavin gets pelted with a water ballon and storms into his office yelling “There was a time where guys like me could have guys like that killed! But, times have changed.” And then turning to his lawyers, “unless...”
Re: Uber CEO calls Saudi murder of Khashoggi “a mistake,” scrambles to backtrack
#58I understand the shock people feel at seeing Dara's dissembling answer, but the vast vast majority of Silicon Valley has done nothing to lessen its ties to Saudi money, and almost none of the major tech figures who feted Mohammed bin Salman on his US publicity tour -- Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Sergey Brin, Sundar Pichai, Jack Dorsey, Peter Thiel, or Reid Hoffman -- have said a word in protest of the Khashoggi assassination. Hopefully the furor around this video will encourage some intrepid journalist to ask them!
Re: Uber CEO calls Saudi murder of Khashoggi “a mistake,” scrambles to backtrack
#59I think this statement is reprehensible, still is this post an HN material?
The challenge for an only-upvote system is articles like this, which perhaps aren’t flag-worthy, but will induce enough users to rage-vote to hit the front page.
I’d downvote it if I could, but I wouldn’t flag it outright even though it’s the kind of “gotcha” story which has no content of its own, and doesn’t tend to elicit particularly interesting commentary.
Re: Uber CEO calls Saudi murder of Khashoggi “a mistake,” scrambles to backtrack
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." I feel that quote describes a lot of the current issues in Silicon Valley.
This definitely reminds me of the scene where Gavin gets pelted with a water ballon and storms into his office yelling “There was a time where guys like me could have guys like that killed! But, times have changed.” And then turning to his lawyers, “unless...”
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