Fire Hydrant of Freedom
Politics, Religion, Science, Culture and Humanities => Politics & Religion => Topic started by: Crafty_Dog on April 29, 2022, 09:16:41 AM
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Seems like the man deserves his own thread :-)
https://nypost.com/2022/04/28/ukrainian-soldier-says-elon-musks-starlink-changed-the-war-with-russia/?fbclid=IwAR0urPT8Mri7L1NUCcGDKOXsDcJgO3IBdsH765-YEAEnVnzt4CkmtV-WeWQ
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I think the Right's celebration of Musk might have been premature
:|
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What are you seeing?
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well Elon calls himself a liberal
no fan of far LEFT or Right
going for the 80 % in the middle
just wary of him
too soon to celebrate but certainly could not have been worse for us
prior to him
+ the dem lawyers playing every trick they can think of to cancel this out........
would not be surprised for Garland to step in ......
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https://americanmilitarynews.com/2022/04/eu-threatens-banning-twitter-after-elon-musk-buys-it/?utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=alt&utm_source=amn&fbclid=IwAR1yeWW5yvL8xKbUmTh7xHePE_Y_SpCshRYFQK-_RCr4q_stvTv98ZscAtY
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what happens if Twitter responds and says we don't need Europe .......
who gets hurt more ?
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From my FB page on this:
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
Misleading headline... It would have done that regardless of whether Elon purchased Twitter.
Reply1h
Marc Denny
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos As an American the EU bureaucracy is not a forte for me, but isn't the point here that prior to EM the EU was happy with the twits at Twitter censoring inconvenient posts?
Reply1h
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
I think that's what the article wants you to think.
There's a new law. They expect any tech company to follow it. IMO, anything beyond that is adding political commentary.
Just like when gdpr came out, every company has to make sure the follow suit
Marc Denny
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos GDPR?
Reply1h
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
Marc Denny there was a time before where you'd go to a website and you didn't see cookie consent banners. Adding user consent was part of gdpr to protect users data and privacy
Reply55m
Marc Denny
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos So THAT is why I am seeing that! Love it!
But I'm not getting how that is relevant to this:
" The legislation “sets out an unprecedented new standard for the accountability of online platforms regarding illegal and harmful content. It will provide better protection for internet users and their fundamental rights.”
"Although the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and European Convention on Human Rights spells out protections for free speech, it carves out harsh regulations for “hate speech” and how it’s defined."
What I am hearing with those words is censorship.
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
Marc Denny the relation is that countries expect you to follow their legislation. It's not a hit job on Twitter because Elon bought it. They would have expected Twitter to follow suit regardless of who owns it.
I guess we'd both have to do some reading to learn how they define hate speech.
My perspective is more from a practitioner vs legal or political. I help companies with their marketing technology stack and make sure they follow applicable rules.
I have until 2024 to read up on how this changes things. Most companies wait last minute to make adjustments 🤣
Marc Denny
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
"After Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter was officially accepted on Monday, the European Union threatened on Tuesday to sanction or even ban the platform if it doesn’t comply with a newly passed tech moderation law.
, , ,
"The EU reached a provisional agreement for the DSA over the weekend nearly a year-and-a-half after it was first proposed. The legislation “sets out an unprecedented new standard for the accountability of online platforms regarding illegal and harmful content. It will provide better protection for internet users and their fundamental rights.”
Understood that Euro legal theory on Free Speech is quite narrower than American (at least as American theory used to be!) and of course, countries "expect you to follow their legislation" but it sounds like what is happening here is a RESPONSE to EM buying Twitter. Thus, it precisely is what you call "political commentary" (i.e. an effort to politically intimidate).
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
Marc Denny I guess that's fair. I'd have to look into the context of why that was stated in the first place. Was it an interview and they specifically asked about Elon? Or did he just bring it up on his own?
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second
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/elon-musk-aoc-stop-hitting-on-me-twitter-purchase?fbclid=IwAR2lhYaSNY2E7yvAaxrCwyJaXXQJZh4oFi6kDfE_DnmgvRoPsLlIfn_TJSs
https://www.foxbusiness.com/technology/elon-musk-trump-truth-social-trumpet
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https://reclaimthenet.org/60-countries-sign-declaration-misinformation/
The creation of DHS-MiniTru is just a coincidence!
From my FB page on this:
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
Misleading headline... It would have done that regardless of whether Elon purchased Twitter.
Reply1h
Marc Denny
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos As an American the EU bureaucracy is not a forte for me, but isn't the point here that prior to EM the EU was happy with the twits at Twitter censoring inconvenient posts?
Reply1h
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
I think that's what the article wants you to think.
There's a new law. They expect any tech company to follow it. IMO, anything beyond that is adding political commentary.
Just like when gdpr came out, every company has to make sure the follow suit
Marc Denny
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos GDPR?
Reply1h
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
Marc Denny there was a time before where you'd go to a website and you didn't see cookie consent banners. Adding user consent was part of gdpr to protect users data and privacy
Reply55m
Marc Denny
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos So THAT is why I am seeing that! Love it!
But I'm not getting how that is relevant to this:
" The legislation “sets out an unprecedented new standard for the accountability of online platforms regarding illegal and harmful content. It will provide better protection for internet users and their fundamental rights.”
"Although the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and European Convention on Human Rights spells out protections for free speech, it carves out harsh regulations for “hate speech” and how it’s defined."
What I am hearing with those words is censorship.
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
Marc Denny the relation is that countries expect you to follow their legislation. It's not a hit job on Twitter because Elon bought it. They would have expected Twitter to follow suit regardless of who owns it.
I guess we'd both have to do some reading to learn how they define hate speech.
My perspective is more from a practitioner vs legal or political. I help companies with their marketing technology stack and make sure they follow applicable rules.
I have until 2024 to read up on how this changes things. Most companies wait last minute to make adjustments 🤣
Marc Denny
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
"After Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter was officially accepted on Monday, the European Union threatened on Tuesday to sanction or even ban the platform if it doesn’t comply with a newly passed tech moderation law.
, , ,
"The EU reached a provisional agreement for the DSA over the weekend nearly a year-and-a-half after it was first proposed. The legislation “sets out an unprecedented new standard for the accountability of online platforms regarding illegal and harmful content. It will provide better protection for internet users and their fundamental rights.”
Understood that Euro legal theory on Free Speech is quite narrower than American (at least as American theory used to be!) and of course, countries "expect you to follow their legislation" but it sounds like what is happening here is a RESPONSE to EM buying Twitter. Thus, it precisely is what you call "political commentary" (i.e. an effort to politically intimidate).
Robert-Anthony Viernes Delos Santos
Marc Denny I guess that's fair. I'd have to look into the context of why that was stated in the first place. Was it an interview and they specifically asked about Elon? Or did he just bring it up on his own?
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https://time.com/6172259/elon-musk-twitter-india-tesla-free-speech/?fbclid=IwAR1RJrKyno0mIXwIrodq2TEth-vcSPD75G--OYgSZQKoXQAkJyMn9Lubs3g
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https://www.westernjournal.com/elon-musk-sets-sights-groups-backed-soros-clinton-operatives-investigate/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=conservativetribune&utm_content=2022-05-04&utm_campaign=manualpost&fbclid=IwAR3Ry1bE53XpcxDOJexnMLq8lVV1Q5ubo_xRTd6_kxG9MWWM1-XU9NmS_Zs
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https://www.zerohedge.com/political/musk-blasts-soros-dark-money-groups-pushing-advertiser-boycott-toxic-free-speech-twitter?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=646
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10796113/Elon-Musk-claims-hes-threatened-Russian-space-agency-head-providing-Ukraine-internet.html
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https://www.nationalreview.com/news/elon-musk-says-he-will-reverse-trump-twitter-ban/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=breaking&utm_campaign=newstrack&utm_term=27665617
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https://www.tweaktown.com/news/86135/elon-musk-drops-warning-says-russia-is-attacking-starlink-satellites/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3LBwa-r_xexeX3GTh3N9pcmedDZ1adu_pI0AgpsK7UxKvnyMC4f0Z4IcA
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second
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-americans-avoid-going-to-work-unlike-chinese-workers-2022-5?fbclid=IwAR0KidT_yDXa_cYxJMejVyfmToJ0wcTmFojimWDjBUY4gH7P-x1s36PGQkU
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https://michaelyon.locals.com/upost/2138529/live-starlink-launch-today
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https://www.theepochtimes.com/elon-musk-calling-for-hardcore-legal-team-made-of-streetfighters_4481851.html?utm_source=News&utm_campaign=breaking-2022-05-22-3&utm_medium=email&est=StV%2BLO2MExsdnz9fbajEjKXoe2CXQHXFKuk%2F8qOsiD0uiG1LXNU7jACuRMmpts1%2FfKCk
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Elon Musk Has a Better Iran Idea
His Starlink service could help protesters communicate.
By The Editorial BoardFollow
Sept. 23, 2022 6:24 pm ET
People clash with police during a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran, Sept. 21.
PHOTO: STR/SHUTTERSTOCK
Protests have erupted in Iran again, this time over the death of a woman in police custody. The regime is cracking down as usual, but the Biden Administration and American entrepreneurs may have some help to offer.
Mahsa Amini, 22, died after she was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s Islamic dress code. Iran’s morals police have become more oppressive, and women can be detained for even minor violations. Once a person is in custody, police can do more or less whatever they want without consequences.
Reuters says protests that began last weekend have spread to some 50 localities including Tehran. Demonstrators have yelled “we don’t want an Islamic Republic” and “Death to the Supreme Leader.” The government sent in riot police, and the human-rights group Hengaw said Thursday that at least 15 have been killed. Such demonstrations erupt periodically in Iran, and they may not jeopardize the regime. But they do reveal simmering unrest.
The protests also show the importance of getting information to Iranians about what is happening in their own country. Internet access abets resistance to the regime by allowing dissenters to coordinate and reassure each other that they aren’t alone. Iranian authorities know this is a vulnerability and have moved to control the internet.
Our contributor Hossein Ronaghi, who has criticized Iran’s pursuit of a “Chinese model of limited national intranet,” said in a video that he narrowly escaped an attempted violent arrest Thursday. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Iran “cut off access to the Internet for most of its 80 million citizens” amid the protests, and authorities also restricted access to WhatsApp and Instagram.
Enter Elon Musk, who said on Twitter this week that he would seek an exemption to sanctions to make his satellite-internet system Starlink available in Iran. Mr. Musk has already provided Starlink services to Ukraine that have helped soldiers and civilians maintain communication despite Russian jamming.
U.S. law gives the executive branch broad discretion over enforcing sanctions, and on Friday the Treasury Department issued a license to “expand the range of internet services available to Iranians” and help “the Iranian people be better equipped to counter the government’s efforts to surveil and censor them.”
Mr. Musk’s SpaceX didn’t respond to a query about whether any additional sanctions barriers remained. But the Treasury license also clears the way for other American companies to help the Iranian people get online.
The Obama Administration failed to support the Green Revolution in 2009 as it sought a nuclear deal. So far the Biden Administration is supporting the right to protest, but it can help Iranians the most by helping them know the truth about their leaders.
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https://www.theepochtimes.com/elon-musk-praised-by-beijing-draws-ire-from-taipei-for-his-taiwan-proposal_4785843.html?utm_source=China&src_src=China&utm_campaign=uschina-2022-10-11&src_cmp=uschina-2022-10-11&utm_medium=email&est=zLBfQ6p4Y%2BTVIIMGtISrbaHntLyReSq1L1Dc5TYj511C9Yx7OEy5N6PcZ8PwfAQmrHsg
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3uDjyXPzWs
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https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2022/10/why-pentagons-crush-elon-musk-dangerous-democracy/378666/
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https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2022/11/military-leaders-praise-musk-treasury-officials-eye-twitter-deal/379256/
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https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2022/11/how-elon-musks-twitter-buy-raises-cybersecurity-risks-rest-us/379213/
Ignore the defense of pre Musk Twitter. Some points worth considering in here.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/elon-musk-declares-war-on-a-silicon-valley-giant/ar-AA13NMGs?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=b112f22e97d5402982da77711336569e
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https://twitchy.com/dougp-3137/2022/11/14/politico-journo-says-its-risky-for-elon-musk-to-attack-members-of-congress/?bcid=a1714aba6c197395707aecde9ada65a65090b7be5f45291f6611e9cf3bd6bace&utm_campaign=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_source=twtydaily
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Tucker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3XYc9Llc3c
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is intent on bringing Musk's twitter down
CNN's "reliable sources " on Drudge this am:
https://view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/166874088300551417e61c43c/raw?utm_term=166874088300551417e61c43c
from the shysters to MSM to H wood to DNC
to the genZ(zzzzz) employees
since Twitter can no longer function as a de facto arm of Democrat Party
it MUST be shut down
looks like Musk must clean it up top down
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Local paper front page today suggests Twitter is a troubled company with all these employees "leaving".
Seems to me they were fired and are being replaced by people who might want to work for a living, and not just censor non-narrative content.
Also, it will take time to replace all the bot and troll posters that made up old twitter.
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https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/elon-musk-skeptical-conservatives?utm_source=lwc-trending&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=LWC-Trending%202022-11-18
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https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-airs-twitters-woke-dirty-laundry-literally-and-exposes-fake-ferguson-narrative?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=benshapiro&fbclid=IwAR0bCSkNQfi9800L861o8nyfSswh1iX1wnXffOnmv7sG5R4J75NCFVDcnik
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https://www.theepochtimes.com/elon-musk-fires-twitters-general-counsel-and-ex-fbi-official-james-baker_4907660.html?utm_source=Morningbrief&src_src=Morningbrief&utm_campaign=mb-2022-12-07&src_cmp=mb-2022-12-07&utm_medium=email&est=YDJfdx9J37W6TXQKdXjdehYIa0N1JvgYasZz02xecxmS9jhCl0IHvudbXZ%2B9trxyhKdD
Twitter owner Elon Musk confirmed that one of its top officials, James Baker—a former FBI general counsel—was “exited” from the company on Tuesday amid concerns that were raised about his “possible role in suppression of information.”
“In light of concerns about Baker’s possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today,” wrote Musk on Twitter. Musk did not offer any more details on Baker’s exit or what role he played at the firm.
Musk, the new owner of Twitter, was responding to an article penned by Jonathan Turley, the George Washington University law professor and political commentator, who noted that Baker was a former FBI general counsel. Baker has not issued a public comment about his apparent departure from the social media firm.
It came days after Musk provided internal Twitter information to journalist Matt Taibbi, who had published details about the social media platform’s decision to essentially censor the New York Post’s report about Hunter Biden’s laptop in October 2020.
Epoch Times Photo
Former FBI General Counsel James Baker testified before the House judiciary and oversight committees on Oct. 3 and Oct. 18, 2018. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)
And minutes after Musk confirmed Baker’s departure on Tuesday, Taibbi wrote: “On Tuesday, Twitter Deputy General Counsel (and former FBI General Counsel) Jim Baker was fired. Among the reasons? Vetting the first batch of ‘Twitter Files’ – without knowledge of new management.”
Taibbi indicated that Baker was in charge of reviewing and releasing the “Twitter Files.”
“The news that Baker was reviewing the ‘Twitter files’ surprised everyone involved, to say the least. New Twitter chief Elon Musk acted quickly to ‘exit’ Baker Tuesday,” Taibbi also wrote on Tuesday evening. “Reporters resumed searches through Twitter Files material—a lot of it—today. The next installment of ‘The Twitter Files’ will appear” in the near future, he wrote.
Baker, notably, was referenced in special counsel John Durham’s court filings in a case targeting former Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann, who had met with Baker in 2016 and, according to Durham, allegedly lied to Baker about who he was working for when he relayed information about a secret communications channel between the Russian government and then-candidate Donald Trump. He was hired by Twitter in 2020 as the firm’s deputy general counsel and vice president after leaving the FBI.
Hours before Musk’s post on Twitter, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the likely incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, raised speculation about Baker’s role at Twitter.
“FBI Agent Timothy Thibault tried to shut down an avenue of the Hunter Biden investigation,” he wrote, referring to alleged whistleblower testimony about Thibault, which the former official categorically denied in a statement to The Epoch Times earlier this year. “Then, Twitter hires former FBI General Counsel James Baker who helps give the company an excuse to suppress the story,” added Jordan. “Coordination?”
Letter
Republicans on Tuesday also issued a letter (pdf) to Baker, which suggested that he still worked at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, and asked him to contact the House Oversight Committee and appear before the panel during the next Congress.
Citing new information released by Twitter, Baker allegedly “played a key advisory role in the decision to censor” the New York Post’s report about Hunter Biden’s overseas business deals ahead of the 2020 General Election.
It added that Baker “wrote in an email—after Twitter censored the laptop story—that ‘we need more facts to assess whether the materials were hacked'” and said Baker had “advised that the story should remain censored, nonetheless.”
The letter was referring to new information posted by Taibbi the past weekend, which showed Twitter managers moved to block the NY Post’s report about Hunter Biden’s laptop without then-CEO Jack Dorsey’s knowledge. Taibbi published alleged internal emails that were given to him by Musk showing Twitter executives debating on what to do with the NY Post’s report.
Ultimately, Twitter blocked sharing of the NY Post story amid allegations that it was part of a Russian disinformation plot, while the newspaper was blocked from accessing its account for more than two weeks. It was later determined that details of the story and information sourced from the laptop were authentic.
At the same time, Taibbi’s posts revealed that Twitter’s management was responding to requests from then-candidate Joe Biden’s campaign team, who appeared to be communicating with the social media company’s executives via back channels.
“I support the conclusion that we need more facts to assess whether the materials were hacked,” Baker wrote in October 2020, according to a screenshot posted by Taibbi last weekend. “At this stage, however, it is reasonable for us to assume that they may have been, and caution is warranted.”
Baker added that “there are some facts that indicate that materials may have been hacked,” according to the screenshot. He did not provide those facts.
The Epoch Times has contacted Baker for comment.
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https://redstate.com/nick-arama/2022/12/12/elon-musk-wrecks-john-brennan-with-just-four-words-n672659
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/elon-musk-posts-license-plate-calls-on-120-million-followers-to-track-down-man-after-banning-account-tracking-his-jet/ar-AA15jms1?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=03245ffb984249d5b14f86f849e22ead
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https://www.pcmag.com/news/elon-musk-buys-back-xcom-from-paypal?fbclid=IwAR1caxL-aXs2BNuGTmzxN9wr6PvGdyw56xgcN7b_eHAMK1ddP-ws7prppoY
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We see here a primal example of why our Founding Fathers gave us a Constitutional Republic and not a Democracy.
Elon's weakness here runs the risk of undoing all that he has accomplished here.
https://dailycaller.com/2022/12/19/twitter-vote-elon-musk-step-down/?utm_source=piano&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking&pnespid=67Y8UHlEPqYH3PvQqzSpSIucuwijT5tyK7Gm3PZspANmtKTq9M.U14O8zYECIrCa0JBTEpMh
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https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2022/12/musk-has-reduced-twitters-ability-spot-foreign-disinformation-former-data-scientist-says/381185/
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Elon Musk Announces Deletion of 1.5 Billion Twitter Accounts and New Feature
Elon Musk , Announces Deletion of 1.5 Billion Twitter Accounts , and New Feature for Users’ Tweets. In a series of tweets, Musk announced he will remove 1.5 billion accounts from Twitter in the coming weeks. . Fox News reports that Musk said the decision to delete these accounts was to free up usernames for current users. . According to Musk, the soon-to-be deleted accounts have not been logged into "for years." . These are obvious account deletions with no tweets & no log in for years, Elon Musk, via Twitter. The early December 9 tweets also included the promise of a new feature that will allow Twitter users to see how many people read or react to their tweets. . The early December 9 tweets also included the promise of a new feature that will allow Twitter users to see how many people read or react to their tweets. . Tweets will show view count in a few weeks, just like videos do. Twitter is much more alive than people think, Elon Musk, via Twitter. Fox News reports that the changes come as part of Musk's planned shift away from regulating the speech of its users. Musk also recently released internal documents revealing how Twitter execs had influenced the platform, suspended users and reduced visibility on accounts and posts. Musk also recently released internal documents revealing how Twitter execs had influenced the platform, suspended users and reduced visibility on accounts and posts. According to Musk, Twitter's pervasive content moderation was a decision made , "at the highest levels of the company,". ... but without the knowledge of CEO Jack Dorsey, with former head of legal, policy and trust Vijaya Gadde playing a key role, Elon Musk, via Twitter. ... but without the knowledge of CEO Jack Dorsey, with former head of legal, policy and trust Vijaya Gadde playing a key role, Elon Musk, via Twitte
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The Great Tesla Stock Repricing
It’s healthy for the car maker, but can Elon Musk’s finances handle it?
Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. hedcutBy Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.
Dec. 27, 2022 6:13 pm ET
A car connected to a charger at a Tesla dealership in Littleton, Colo. June 27, 2021.
PHOTO: DAVID ZALUBOWSKI/ASSOCIATED PRESS
How much money Elon Musk has in the bank suddenly has become a general societal concern. Fans, investors and employees of his non-Tesla businesses, including Twitter, realize that it’s Mr. Musk’s Tesla wealth that helps keep them afloat.
Tesla shareholders realize how much they have been supporting his other endeavors, which compete for his attention.
In the latest news about one of the strangest corporate acquisitions ever, Twitter’s bankers are reportedly trying to reduce calls on Twitter’s faltering cash flow. How? By having Mr. Musk personally take over some of the company’s corporate debt, using yet more of his Tesla shares as collateral.
This would be a brave stand if it were really needed to preserve Twitter from bankruptcy. But things get complicated for two reasons: his board’s requirement that he put up $100 of Tesla stock for every $25 of borrowing, and Tesla’s epoch-making plunge, down another $14 on Tuesday.
Mr. Musk gets blame from his most loyal investors for triggering the selloff because of his Twitter engagement, his Tesla stock sales, the potential for margin calls, and his off-color tweeting.
But an occasion for re-rating Tesla was coming anyway. The company has shed a monumental $900 billion in market cap and is still richly priced for a car maker with its growth prospects.
For years analysts justified its share price by saying Tesla wasn’t a car company, it was another Apple. Meaning what? Apple isn’t some free-spirited, uninhibited innovator spinning off new industries in all directions. It’s basically one thing, an iPhone company.
Tesla is one thing, a car company. For a lot of reasons, profit margins on cars will never be as attractive as profit margins on iPhones. And just as no reason exists to believe Apple could dream up another money-spinner equivalent to the iPhone, no reason exists to believe Tesla will invent a product or service to transcend the competitive predicament of a car company.
I made myself unpopular years ago by pointing out that the established, union-employing companies dearest to politicians’ hearts would also be lured into making electric vehicles by the same subsidies that lured Tesla. These companies operate under an additional political dispensation, thanks to our fuel-economy regime, which lets them lose money on EVs to preserve the inflated pickup-truck profits they earn behind a 25% pickup import tax in place since LBJ.
Political favoritism has shifted against Tesla. Small example: The subsidized charging network the Biden administration is building devalues the competitive advantage Tesla created for itself by building its own charging network.
Clearly now, Tesla won’t have the electric-vehicle market to itself. Whatever growth that market affords—and fans and skeptics remain divided—will be fought over fiercely with other companies.
These makers have learned from Tesla—electric vehicles, for most buyers, are indulgence cars, like GM’s giant, sold-out electric Hummer, or Ford’s $56,000 Lightning pickup, or its $70,000 Mustang Mach-E GT.
They aren’t the tiny runabout Nissan Leafs or Prius-like hybrids that Ohio State University guru Chris Atkinson preaches are the best use of a lithium-ion battery if the goal really is to displace CO2 emissions.
The job of stock analysts is to rationalize the stock prices the world hands us, on the reasonable assumption that prices convey meaningful information. To solve the mystery of Tesla’s share price they resorted to the presumption that Mr. Musk would conjure some unforeseen source of future profits.
Government policy also is rationalized. Joe Biden, it’s explained, is subsidizing electric vehicles to reduce emissions. But does this really describe either motive or effect? He and his aides may have merely identified a way voters will let him spend money and channel it to business and labor groups that support him.
In obvious ways, EV subsidies actually encourage emissions: to build the cars, to mine the minerals for their batteries, to charge them up. In the great lacuna that’s seldom mentioned, if EV drivers are subsidized to use less gas, it becomes cheaper for someone else to use more.
The policy bubble hasn’t popped yet even if the Tesla bubble has, revaluing the car maker in a manner that is healthier and more realistic in the long run. The biggest test for Mr. Musk was always going to be the company’s repricing in line with the opportunities of selling cars into a crowded and competitive car market.
The timing is bad, from a pending expected recession to China’s Covid chaos, spiking minerals prices and declining consumer confidence. It isn’t the best time for Mr. Musk to encumber his Tesla stake with forced sales and possible margin calls. He suddenly has a lot riding on the Cybertruck, Tesla’s bid to catch a share of the protected profits that other car makers have long milked from the closed U.S. pickup truck market.
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https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/i-would-not-buy-tesla-again-us-tesla-owners-fume-about-recent-price-cuts?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1186
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I had no idea Nader was even still alive :
https://www.thestreet.com/technology/elon-musk-attacked-by-an-old-and-powerful-enemy
seems to me Nader should. target the Dem party for pushing green
perhaps Obama Biden
but of course he would not.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqJKAnN0-gM&t=3s
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about Soros:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/elon-musk-compares-george-soros-to-jewish-supervillain-who-hates-humanity/ar-AA1bgaAl
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another hit piece :
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/05/28/elon-musk-texas-spacex-boring-bastrop/
all he does is try to get our side to be able to speak
but that is not allowed
how dare him ruffle the Left feathers
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https://www.oann.com/newsroom/musk-calls-the-esg-the-devil/
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https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65981876
I would pay to see this; not sure who to place the bet on:
lets see Zuckerberg is 39 Musk 52. +1 for Zuck
Zuckerberg is a trained killer ( :wink:) ; Musk apparently has maybe more experience - > While Musk described himself as a "bookish" kid, the billionaire said he studied karate, judo, and Brazilian jiu jitsu his youth. The billionaire also wrestles. Last year, Musk said on Twitter that he managed to "throw the world champion sumo wrestler" at a party..
thus maybe a draw ?
Musk I believe is larger than Zuck thus +1 to Musk
So tough to say who would win
I know who I would want to win..........
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I was just thinking I would rather see Zuckerberg go against Daniel Penny....
:evil:
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https://www.betonline.ag/sportsbook/futures-and-props/entertainment/zuckerberg-vs-musk-cage-fight
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-65981876?fbclid=IwAR0ZXlEZ6w7XLLVR0OzYpZPAPgan01v4j5p3LOVQoyZmNzdRF1zK4Kan5AQ
https://www.louderwithcrowder.com/dana-white-elon-zuckerberg?fbclid=IwAR0RKL9XxAUPVsq_6BruH1egh15r9_sbVjHAOyGn0PoJFEjL--YMv40wdwM
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https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/elon-musks-absurd-socialist-pledge/?lctg=547fd5293b35d0210c8df7b9&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MJ_20230707&utm_term=Jolt-Smart
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https://patriotpost.us/articles/99462-musk-takes-on-a-new-fight-2023-08-07?mailing_id=7692&utm_medium=email&utm_source=pp.email.7692&utm_campaign=digest&utm_content=body
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Taiwan Rebukes Elon Musk for Describing Island Democracy as China’s Hawaii
Taipei implies that the American entrepreneur has sold out to Beijing and points to the country’s censorship of X
By Joyu Wang
Sept. 14, 2023 9:01 am ET
TAIPEI—Elon Musk drew scathing criticism from the government of Taiwan after he described the self-ruled island as China’s equivalent of Hawaii, with the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry implying the Tesla CEO had sold himself to Beijing.
Speaking remotely at a technology conference in Los Angeles this week, the billionaire doubled down on earlier comments backing the contention of Communist Party leaders in Beijing that Taiwan is a part of China.
“From their standpoint, maybe it is analogous to Hawaii,” he said while addressing an audience at the All-In Summit, describing the island’s de facto independence from China as an arbitrary state of affairs that continues “mostly because the U.S. Pacific Fleet has stopped any sort of reunification effort by force.”
Taiwanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu hit back in an unusually blunt response at a press briefing on Thursday, pointing to the entrepreneur’s extensive business ties in China.
“We can’t tell whether or not Musk’s free will is for sale. But Taiwan is not for sale, that’s for sure,” Liu said.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Musk’s social-media platform X, ‘Mr. @ElonMusk other than money, there is something we call VALUES.’ PHOTO: SAM YEH/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES
As other American executives rethink their relationship with China, Musk is pushing to deepen his ties with the world’s second-largest economy. Tesla has a sprawling factory in Shanghai and said in April that it plans to build a second one in the city to manufacture its Megapack energy-storage product. Top Chinese officials offered him a warm welcome when he visited China later in the spring.
Musk has repeatedly expressed views that align closely with Beijing’s position in recent months, including on Taiwan, despite his company’s complex relationship with China and declining market share in the country.
The Communist Party vows to take control of Taiwan—by force if necessary—despite never having ruled the island. Taipei has pursued closer ties with Washington in recent years, making its status a central flashpoint in relations between the U.S. and China.
After Musk said in a television interview in May that people should take China’s claims to Taiwan seriously, Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu replied on the Musk-owned social-media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, “Mr. @ElonMusk other than money, there is something we call VALUES.”
Thursday marked the first time that Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry responded to Musk’s comments in a formal press briefing. Liu took a swipe at Musk’s willingness to do business with China’s authoritarian regime despite portraying himself as a free-speech advocate.
“Musk ignores that Chinese people have neither freedom of speech, nor internet freedom,” he said. “The fact remains that Chinese people still can’t access the social-media platform X today.”
Musk didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
For decades, Taiwan has looked to its east coast as a safe haven to survive a Chinese invasion until allies, particularly the U.S., can arrive to assist. But PLA activity around the island’s east has thrown that strategy into question. Illustration: Adam Adada
Wu weighed in directly on X late on Wednesday, likening Musk’s acceptance of Chinese censorship to “turning off @Starlink to thwart #Ukraine’s counterstrike against #Russia.” That is a reference to the disclosure in a coming book that Musk denied Ukraine access to his satellite-based internet service to disrupt a drone attack on Russian ships based in Crimea.
The verbal sparring came amid a flurry of military activity in the region.
On Saturday, the guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ottawa sailed through the Taiwan Strait, according to the U.S. military, in a so-called freedom-of-navigation operation.
Two days later, the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong sailed toward the western Pacific Ocean to the southeast of Taiwan on Monday for training, according to Taiwan’s military. On Wednesday, Taiwan’s defense ministry tracked 68 Chinese warplanes flying sorties near the island, with 40 of them entering its air defense identification zone.
September is when China’s military typically carries out drills, though the recent Chinese activity was also likely a response to the U.S. exercises, according to Lin Ying-yu, a Taipei-based military expert.
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Walter Isaacson hawking his book on Musk on the lib stations
Saw Amanpour lament how he ruined Twitter from a fun media to this horrible black dark hateful "X"
:roll:
like a good neighbor. LEFTIST
I am sure most PBS money comes from elite Leftist self righteous types. Like her.
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Elizabeth Warren Owes Musk an Apology
His denial of Starlink service in Crimea was consistent with U.S. sanctions on Russia.
By Dennis Kneale
Sept. 17, 2023 2:48 pm ET
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren in Washington, Sept. 13. PHOTO: RON SACHS/ZUMA PRESS
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is demanding an investigation of Elon Musk and SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network. She wants to know why he refused the Ukrainian military’s demand that he turn on Starlink over a blacked-out portion of the Black Sea near Russian-controlled Crimea to guide a submarine drone attack on Russian ships.
“No one is supposed to make foreign policy for the United States other than the United States government,” Ms. Warren told CNN on Sept. 12. “It is not up to one billionaire to go off in secret and change our foreign policy.” In fact, Mr. Musk was following U.S. foreign policy.
In a new biography of Mr. Musk, Walter Isaacson writes: “Allowing the use of Starlink for the attack, [Mr. Musk] concluded, could be a disaster for the world. So he secretly told his engineers to turn off coverage within a hundred kilometers of the Crimean coast. As a result, when the Ukrainian drone subs got near the Russian fleet in Sevastopol, they lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly.”
But on Sept. 8 Mr. Isaacson had issued a clarification: Mr. Musk didn’t disable Starlink in the area; he declined a Ukrainian request to enable it.
At a fan summit for the “All In” podcast, released on Twitter Sept. 12, Mr. Musk said complying with the Ukrainian request would have violated American sanctions against Russia: “We’re not allowed to actually turn on connectivity to [Russian-controlled Crimea] without explicit government approval. So, we did not have the U.S. government . . . and then we basically figured out that this was kind of like a Pearl Harbor attack on the Russian fleet at Sevastopol. So what they’re really asking us for is to actually take part in a major act of war.”
He added: “And, you know, while we certainly have huge support for the Ukraine government, the Ukrainian government is not in charge of U.S. people or companies. That’s not how it works.”
The old cliché about no good deed going unpunished applies. Starlink, a privately owned network, has provided $100 million in free service to Ukraine since the war began, letting the country defend itself and re-establish communications destroyed by hundreds of Russian missiles.
What’s more, Mr. Musk says he would have complied if President Biden ordered him to turn on his privately owned network for Ukraine: “While I’m not President Biden’s biggest fan, if I had received a presidential directive to turn it on, I would have done so. Because I do regard the president as the chief executive officer of the country. Whether I want that person to be president or not, I still respect the office.”
That is a lot more respect than Ms. Warren has shown for Mr. Musk. She owes him an apology.
Mr. Kneale is a New York writer and host of “What’s Bugging Me” on Ricochet.
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https://americanwirenews.com/adam-schiff-shouldve-never-picked-a-fight-with-elon-musk-over-election-misinformation/?utm_campaign=james&utm_content=9%2F29%2F23%20SOE%20PM&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=Get%20response&utm_term=email
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https://www.the-sun.com/news/9705022/elon-musk-israel-gaza-netanyahu-anti-semitism/
I am guessing to counter the LEFTist mob claim he is anti semitic for speaking the truth about lib Jews in the US.
Funny how the libs go after him (ever since he bought twitter) more than they go after real Jew Haters .
Any connection from a political DNC point of view ? :wink: :roll:
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https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1729995954831470946
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Elon Musk Has Used Illegal Drugs, Worrying Leaders at Tesla and SpaceX
Some executives and board members fear the billionaire’s use of drugs—including LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, mushrooms and ketamine—could harm his companies
ILLUSTRATION BY ALEXANDRA CITRIN-SAFADI/WSJ, MANDEL NGAN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
By Emily GlazerFollow
and Kirsten GrindFollow
Jan. 6, 2024 9:00 pm ET
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Elon Musk and his supporters offer several explanations for his contrarian views, unfiltered speech and provocative antics. They’re an expression of his creativity. Or the result of his mental-health challenges. Or fallout from his stress, or sleep deprivation.
In recent years, some executives and board members at his companies and others close to the billionaire have developed a persistent concern that there is another component driving his behavior: his use of drugs.
And they fear the Tesla TSLA -0.18%decrease; red down pointing triangle and SpaceX chief executive’s drug use could have major consequences not just for his health, but also the six companies and billions in assets he oversees, according to people familiar with Musk and the companies.
The world’s wealthiest person has used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, often at private parties around the world, where attendees sign nondisclosure agreements or give up their phones to enter, according to people who have witnessed his drug use and others with knowledge of it. Musk has previously smoked marijuana in public and has said he has a prescription for the psychedelic-like ketamine.
In 2018, for example, he took multiple tabs of acid at a party he hosted in Los Angeles. The next year he partied on magic mushrooms at an event in Mexico. In 2021, he took ketamine recreationally with his brother, Kimbal Musk, in Miami at a house party during Art Basel. He has taken illegal drugs with current SpaceX and former Tesla board member Steve Jurvetson.
People close to Musk, who is now 52, said his drug use is ongoing, especially his consumption of ketamine, and that they are concerned it could cause a health crisis. Even if it doesn’t, it could damage his businesses.
Illegal drug use would likely be a violation of federal policies that could jeopardize SpaceX’s billions of dollars in government contracts. Musk is intrinsic to the value of his companies, potentially putting at risk around $1 trillion in assets held by investors, tens of thousands of jobs and big parts of the U.S. space program.
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SpaceX is the only U.S. company now approved to transport NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. The Pentagon, meanwhile, has stepped up purchases of SpaceX rocket launches in recent years, and the company has also been looking to develop a large business selling satellite services to national-security agencies.
One former Tesla director, Linda Johnson Rice, grew so frustrated with Musk’s volatile behavior and her concerns about his drug consumption that she didn’t stand for re-election to the electric-car company’s board in 2019, according to people familiar with the matter.
Top, Linda Johnson Rice, a former Tesla director, in 2019. Below, Gwynne Shotwell, president of SpaceX, in 2015. PHOTO: ALEXANDER TAMARGO/GETTY IMAGES FOR COLORCOMM, BRETT COOMER/HOUSTON CHRONICLE/GETTY IMAGES
Musk didn’t respond to requests for comment.
An attorney for Musk, Alex Spiro, said that Musk is “regularly and randomly drug tested at SpaceX and has never failed a test.” Spiro, who said he represents Tesla, added in response to detailed questions that “there are other false facts” in this article but didn’t detail them.
The people around Musk long ago became accustomed to his volatile behavior. Some SpaceX executives who had long worked with him, however, noticed a change at a company event in late 2017.
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Hundreds of SpaceX employees gathered around mission control at the rocket company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., in anticipation of Musk, who was nearly an hour late to arrive at the all-hands meeting about the company’s latest rocket.
When he finally took the stage, Musk was strangely incomprehensible at times. He slurred his words and rambled for around 15 minutes, according to executives in attendance, and referred repeatedly to SpaceX’s Big Falcon Rocket prototype, which was known as BFR, as “Big F—ing Rocket.”
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell ultimately stepped in and took over the meeting.
It couldn’t be learned if Musk was under the influence that day. But after the meeting, the SpaceX executives privately talked about their worries Musk was on drugs. One described the event as “nonsensical,” “unhinged” and “cringeworthy.”
Spiro called the description of the SpaceX incident “false as has been confirmed by countless people who were present.” He declined to elaborate on what specifically was false or describe the countless people.
Then in 2018, people familiar with Musk’s behavior said, another incident seemed to mark a turning point for him—and showed that his drug use could have consequences for his businesses. That year, Musk got into trouble with NASA for smoking marijuana on the Joe Rogan show, raising red flags for some about the business impact of Musk’s conduct and causing employees at SpaceX to be randomly tested for drugs.
Worry by board members
In addition to violating federal contracts, any kind of illegal drug use would break company policies at both SpaceX and Tesla, and would raise questions about Musk’s executive role at the publicly traded Tesla, where the board has a duty to shareholders to oversee management.
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Some Tesla board members over the years have talked among themselves about their concerns over Musk’s alleged drug use but haven’t said anything formally that would end up as an official board agenda item or in meeting minutes, people familiar with the discussions said. Some directors, including current Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm, have gone to Kimbal Musk, who is a Tesla board member and was a SpaceX board member until early 2022, for help with Musk’s behavior, without using the word “drugs,” the people said.
Elon Musk spoke at an opening of a Tesla factory near Berlin in 2022. PHOTO: CHRISTIAN MARQUARDT/PRESS POOL
Some on the board and others close to Musk worried he was on drugs when he tweeted in 2018 about plans to take Tesla private, people familiar with the episode said. Kimbal Musk informally approached Musk about it on behalf of some board members, some of the people said. The tweet brought on an SEC investigation into whether the statement was misleading or false, and resulted in Musk’s agreement to step down as Tesla chairman for a time.
Some close to Musk said they learned he was under the influence during a media interview he gave soon after the tweet when he choked up describing how difficult his year had been.
Part of the issue directors have grappled with over the years is whether drug use by Musk is to blame for his unusual behavior, or if it is something else, such as his consistent lack of sleep, which he has talked about.
Musk oversees six companies, including social-media platform X, formerly Twitter; his tunneling venture, The Boring Co.; his brain implant startup, Neuralink; and a new artificial-intelligence company, xAI. His business life bleeds into his personal time in a way that is uncommon even for other chief executives.
At Tesla and X, he has said he regularly slept at the office. He often emails company lieutenants in the middle of the night, and hosts work meetings at midnight. He said he works almost nonstop. “Vacation is a strong word,” he said in 2022 court testimony. “For me, it is email with a view.”
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In a new authorized biography of Musk, author Walter Isaacson described Musk’s “demon mode”: Musk, Isaacson wrote, entered into a state of intense fury and would frequently lash out at employees and executives. In the Isaacson book, Musk is quoted as saying, “I really don’t like doing illegal drugs.”
Musk and others have attributed his erratic office behavior to his mental health. A Twitter user asked in 2017 if he had bipolar disorder, which can cause mood swings, to which Musk replied affirmatively, although he said he was undiagnosed.
Musk also said, when he hosted Saturday Night Live in 2021, that he had Asperger’s, a form of autism.
Top, Robyn Denholm, board chair of Tesla, in 2022. Below, Kimbal Musk, brother of Elon Musk and a Tesla board member, in 2022. PHOTO: HILARY WARDHAUGH/BLOOMBERG NEWS, CHET STRANGE/BLOOMBERG NEWS
Drug use has also been a thorny topic for directors at Musk’s companies because some of them are his close friends, and attend parties and travel with him, according to people familiar with the matter and court documents.
Musk has been known to attend parties and events at Burning Man, the Nevada arts and music festival where drugs are widely used, to blow off steam, according to people close to him.
He also throws his own private events, where drug use is common, according to people who have attended the parties.
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The executive’s whereabouts are often a closely guarded secret, and he is protected by private security. At his companies, executives and employees often have to sign nondisclosure agreements.
Kimbal Musk frequently attends the same parties and events as his brother, including an Art Basel party in Miami in late 2021 when both took ketamine recreationally, according to people with knowledge of their drug use. Kimbal Musk has talked to friends about the benefits of psychedelics, and tweeted in June in support of his wife when she spoke at the country’s largest psychedelic conference about the benefits of the drugs for mental health treatment.
In 2023, The Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk microdoses ketamine for depression and also takes full doses at parties. Following publication of the article, Musk tweeted that ketamine is a better way to deal with depression compared with more widely prescribed antidepressants that are “zombifying” people.
In a separate tweet, Musk later said that he had a prescription for ketamine. The psychedelic-like drug can be prescribed “off label” for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and it is also a widely used party drug that can be purchased illegally through dealers.
A conference about the benefits of psychedelic drugs in Denver in June. PHOTO: KEVIN MOHATT FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Government contracts
As a general rule, board members and executives have long struggled with how to deal with substance abuse at their companies.
Some directors have wondered whether it is their role to police drug use outside the office, saying what executives do in their personal lives—especially with drugs that may be legal in certain instances or states—may not impact their business decisions.
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At most companies, board members aren’t required to investigate an executive for drug use, but they often do take action if they believe it is impacting the business.
That can include encouraging a leave of absence for treatment or opening an investigation, corporate governance experts say. Drug use is a more challenging issue than other substance problems, such as alcohol, because possessing certain drugs, such as cocaine, can bring felony charges.
In 2020, former Zappos chief executive Tony Hsieh’s abuse of ketamine ultimately caused executives at the shoe company’s parent, Amazon, to step in, according to people familiar with those events.
Amazon executives gave Hsieh a couple of months to clean up his act, and when he wasn’t able to do so, he resigned. Hsieh was trapped in a house fire while under the influence in late 2020 and later died from his injuries.
Elon Musk viewed part of a rocket engine at SpaceX in Hawthorne, Calif., in 2019. PHOTO: AUBREY GEMIGNANI/NASA/GETTY IMAGES
Tesla’s code of conduct described the electric-vehicle maker as a drug-free workplace and prohibits all employees, including executives, from using them, even out of the office.
Illegal drug use by employees is also in violation of the rules that govern the more than $14 billion in contracts that Musk’s private rocket company, SpaceX, has with the U.S. government for civilian and military space missions.
Federal contracts require that companies comply with the Drug-Free Workplace Act and foster a drug-free culture with programs and policies, regardless of any state laws that may legalize some usage. Contractors can also lose security clearances because of drug abuse, defined as the use of illegal drugs or prescription medications “in a manner that deviates from approved medical direction.”
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In his role as CEO and founder of SpaceX, Musk has a security clearance that gives him access to classified information.
Investors have often turned a blind eye to concerns about Musk, including his drug use, especially when Tesla is doing well, investors and people close to the board said. And in recent years, Tesla and SpaceX have both performed exceptionally. Tesla stock is up around 1,000% in the past five years, despite declines in 2022, compared with the S&P 500’s increase of around 86% in that time period. Revenue at SpaceX also has soared.
A SpaceX rocket took off in Texas in November. PHOTO: ABRAHAM PINEDA-JACOME/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK
Tweet firestorm
In the summer of 2018, some people around the billionaire began getting concerned that he was losing control.
Several months after the all-hands meeting at SpaceX, Musk tweeted in August that he planned to take Tesla private at $420 a share—“420” is slang for smoking marijuana—and that he had “funding secured.”
The now-infamous tweet set off a firestorm among investors, who scrambled to understand the billionaire’s plans for the electric-car maker. Tesla shares increased more than 6% the day of the tweet. The SEC launched an investigation that resulted in a settlement that included fines of $40 million and Tesla adding two independent board members and overseeing the CEO’s communications. Musk didn’t admit or deny wrongdoing.
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Board members told regulators they didn’t know about Musk’s plans and were taken aback by his actions. Privately some on the board became concerned that Musk was on drugs when tweeting, and some directors briefly discussed among themselves the idea of him taking a leave of absence from Tesla, people familiar with the discussions said.
In an interview with the New York Times soon after, Musk choked up multiple times as he described the intense personal toll of leading Tesla, saying, “This past year has been the most difficult and painful year of my career.”
Behind the scenes, things were much more dire: Musk had been under the influence as he answered the reporters’ questions, according to people briefed on the episode. The CEO hadn’t informed Tesla’s communications team that he was giving the interview, people familiar with the episode said.
Soon after, Musk smoked marijuana on the comedian Rogan’s show, which can be streamed online. NASA demanded written assurances that SpaceX was complying with the federal drug-free workplace law and spent $5 million in taxpayer dollars on training for SpaceX employees, according to a letter NASA sent to the company and federal contracting records.
Elon Musk smoked marijuana on comedian Joe Rogan’s show in 2018.
Musk has said the agency required drug testing at SpaceX for a year.
Corporate contractors must follow standard NASA guidelines for drug tests that usually check for marijuana and cocaine and have the ability to also test for amphetamines, opiates and PCP.
Spiro didn’t respond to a question on what type of drug tests Musk has taken.
At SpaceX and some of Musk’s other companies, including the tunnel venture Boring Co., executives began warning employees to follow company rules at all times, including to not use illegal drugs, even out of the office, according to people familiar with the warnings.
SpaceX brought in drug-sniffing dogs on a random basis to make sure employees weren’t carrying illegal substances, according to the people.
At Tesla, Denholm, the current board chair, James Murdoch and other directors sometimes gathered around Kimbal Musk informally during board breaks or after meetings to ask how Elon Musk was doing or if he was getting enough sleep, people familiar with the conversations said. While the directors wouldn’t specifically ask about substance abuse, the people said they understood the questions to be about Elon Musk’s perceived drug use.
Rice, the director who didn’t stand for re-election in 2019, raised concerns about his drug consumption more than once in side conversations with board members about Musk’s increasingly erratic behavior during her two year tenure on the board, according to people familiar with her concerns. She informally asked whether the board should investigate and was brushed off, one of the people said.
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https://www.newsweek.com/chinese-retailer-caught-selling-starlink-terminals-russia-1874756
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MUSK SATELLITE BLITZ COULD 'WEAKEN ATMOSPHERE'
So it is Musk who will destroy the atmosphere and the Earth's magnetic field.
https://www.space.com/how-many-satellites-are-orbiting-earth
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https://www.theepochtimes.com/business/elon-musk-says-x-will-defy-court-order-from-brazils-supreme-court-principles-matter-more-than-profit-5623418?utm_source=News&src_src=News&utm_campaign=breaking-2024-04-07-2&src_cmp=breaking-2024-04-07-2&utm_medium=email&est=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYvAqcwcVzc7PzLYPrHFRB710wA0AIj31kx5JTWZu9FddhEg4S8RP
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Why Musk Now Needs China More Than It Needs Him
Beijing seeks to score political points as it hands Tesla a victory
By Selina Cheng and Raffaele Huang
WSJ
April 30, 2024 8:31 am ET
Tesla’s plan to launch its advanced driver-assistance service in China was tentatively approved after Elon Musk met with top officials, a crucial victory in its second-biggest market. Photo: Tingshu Wang/Reuters
HONG KONG—Elon Musk’s whistle-stop trip to Beijing for an audience with China’s Premier Li Qiang highlighted how the power dynamic is shifting between Tesla TSLA -5.55%decrease; red down pointing triangle and the Chinese government.
Tesla’s chief executive left the country with assurances that the carmaker will be able to roll out its driver-assistance technology. The software underpins Musk’s hopes for rekindling Tesla’s growth in the world’s biggest electric-vehicle market, where it is being outmaneuvered by homegrown rivals.
China, meanwhile, used his trip to promote its message that it is open to American businesses, despite rising tensions with the U.S. State media quoted Musk giving a stamp of approval to China’s EV market, saying his comments dispelled U.S. concerns about overcapacity. Beijing also sought to show that foreign firms can thrive under its tight regulatory controls over data.
Musk emerged with a win, analysts said, but the meetings underscored that while China remains crucial to Tesla, Beijing now needs Tesla less to spice up its EV and autonomous-driving industry. Tesla has seen China sales fall as its rivals there flood the market with hundreds of new models, contributing to the American carmaker’s first year-over-year quarterly car sales decline since 2020 and a sharp profit drop.
“China needed Tesla to open the EV market, I’m not sure China needs Tesla to open the market for autonomous vehicles,” said Bill Russo, a Shanghai-based consultant for Automobility. Some Chinese companies are already capable of sophisticated driving technology on their own, he said.
Chinese officials feted Musk when he went to China in the early years of the relationship. They offered land, low-interest loans and tax incentives for Tesla to build a factory in Shanghai and its approval boosted consumers’ perception of Tesla in the world’s biggest auto market. Then Premier Li Keqiang even took a Tesla for a spin within the gated Zhongnanhai leadership compound in 2019.
The deal worked out well for both sides. Tesla helped ignite China’s EV industry, which is now the envy of the world. Shanghai became Tesla’s most productive and cost-efficient factory, enabling it to lower the prices of its cars. Sales of Tesla’s made-in-China Model 3 and Model Y soared, making the country its second-biggest market, as well as an export hub.
But Chinese carmakers inspired by Tesla have become fierce rivals, gobbling up its market share there and increasingly challenging it overseas. Expectations among many analysts that Tesla would expand its Shanghai factory to manufacture a more affordable EV have dimmed. Instead, a plot of land adjacent to its initial plant is being used by Tesla to produce its energy-storage Megapacks.
Workers at the car factory say operating hours were cut to five days a week from seven in March as it wasn’t running at full capacity.
Tesla is facing stiff competition from homegrown rivals in China. PHOTO: QILAI SHEN/BLOOMBERG NEWS
When talking about plans for Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving,” or FSD, features during a call to discuss the company’s dismal earnings last week, Musk said Tesla would release the service “in any market that—where we can get regulatory approval for that, which we think includes China.”
Days later, he flew to Beijing to seek Chinese leaders’ blessing. During his less-than-24-hour visit, Chinese regulators also gave Tesla’s cars clearance for data that they collect on the road, potentially paving the way for the government to loosen bans on the vehicles going to sensitive sites such as military complexes and some government buildings.
Musk also agreed to a deal with China’s Baidu for its FSD rollout, reassuring Chinese leaders over the security risks of Chinese user data.
“Pushing forward Tesla’s FSD in China is of strategic value to Beijing, which aspires to build itself as a global data leader,” said Feng Chucheng, founding partner at Hutong Research. “This will be much desired for Beijing to prove that its data regulatory regime is gaining traction.”
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I would like to think Musk is one guy that won't be taken by the Chinese. But how can that be? Haven't they already stolen his technology? How did their EV manufacturing get going so quickly?
Also isn't he at high risk of getting caught up in a trade war?
Every time we doubt him we end up wrong. Still I'm skeptical.
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Elon Musk
@elonmusk
·
May 14
The true battle is:
Extinctionists who want a holocaust for all of humanity.
— Versus —
Expansionists who want to reach the stars and Understand the Universe.
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It appears they are speaking:
https://pjmedia.com/rick-moran/2024/05/31/the-elon-musk-donald-trump-bromance-is-in-full-flower-n4929512
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TxDuY1pQpcY
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:-D
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/elon-musk-s-super-pac-has-spent-8-2-million-in-these-18-districts-to-keep-the-gop-in-control-of-the-house/ar-AA1qIyup?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=a8b10b99822f4656b302f807bf1578a5&ei=25
If Trump wins he needs to appoint Elon for something so he can get him Secret Service protection - but then again I suppose he can afford his own and better protection :wink:
The sacrifices by Musk to support DJT and R's:
https://pjmedia.com/scott-pinsker/2024/10/06/the-remarkable-evolution-of-elon-musk-n4933110
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He is getting huge props here in NC for his gifting lots of Starlinks to folks who are shut off.
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House Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said he is investigating the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision to revoke an $885.5 million subsidy for Starlink through the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund.
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we need a name that is analogous for lawfare when it is the bureaucracy acting in blatant political ways
bureauracracy - war fare
bureaufare?
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Done. See the Lawfare, Bureaufare thread.
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https://dailycaller.com/2024/10/11/josh-shapiro-liberal-pennsylvania-elon-musk-spacex-politics-california-newsom/
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Turley on the left’s hatred of Musk:
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4929669-elon-musk-renounces-rocket-man/
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"How long do you think my prison sentence is going to be?" Musk said to Tucker Carlson this month about a hypothetical Trump loss.
https://www.axios.com/2024/10/11/elon-musk-trump-president-election
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4929669-elon-musk-renounces-rocket-man/
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" "How long do you think my prison sentence is going to be?" Musk said to Tucker Carlson this month about a hypothetical Trump loss."
No doubt shysters are working on this as we type.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/watch-spacex-catch-a-giant-starship-booster-at-its-launch-pad/vi-AA1sf34S?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=c55755ff8b874ce3ae89d0308e38620e&ei=84
Elon, we salute you:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=song%20nobody%20does%20it%20better%20videos&FORM=VIRE0&mid=B5FCD60BC9EC918DEA2CB5FCD60BC9EC918DEA2C&view=detail&ru=%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dsong%20nobody%20does%20it%20better
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https://nypost.com/2024/10/20/us-news/elon-musks-1-million-petition-giveaway-how-to-cash-in/
I live in hopeless Dem mob controlled NJ so I can't participate. :cry:
NC is one state that is in the lottery.
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So, what is the link?!?
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I don't know
I could not find it.
Perhaps on X which I don't use?
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I was surprised the article did not have it.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/elon-musk-s-secret-conversations-with-vladimir-putin/ar-AA1sSO1O?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=3b947650a1094053b15674472487541e&ei=31
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Democrats Make Elon Musk’s Pay Day
‘Regulatory credits’ boost Tesla profit and its CEO’s wealth.
By The Editorial Board
Oct. 24, 2024 5:49 pm ET
Elon Musk on Thursday became billions of dollars richer after a strong earnings report caused Tesla Motors’ stock to pop. Congratulations to Democrats, whose green-energy subsidies and mandates are enriching the man they hate most after Donald Trump.
Tesla beat forecasts with a $2.2 billion profit in the third quarter, a 17% increase from a year earlier. Look under the hood, and you’ll find subsidies are driving its profits. Auto sales increased by a mere 1% compared to the same quarter last year while “regulatory credits” grew 33%. Such credits accounted for a third of its profit.
If auto makers fail to meet California’s electric-vehicle quotas or the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas emissions standards, they must buy compliance credits from manufacturers with a surplus—namely, Tesla. More auto makers are struggling to meet these EV mandates amid slowing demand and an EV market glut.
They are scaling back EV production plans and instead buying credits from Tesla because this is less expensive than making cars at a hefty loss. Tesla says it is booking more regulatory credit sales “as other automobile manufacturers scale back on their battery electric vehicle plans.” Their EV woes are Tesla’s gain.
As EV mandates ratchet up—California requires that they make up 68% of auto maker sales by 2030—the value of Tesla’s regulatory credits will increase. Could this be one reason Tesla is trading at two to three times the forward earnings multiple of high-flying tech stocks? Investors may be betting on rising government mandates and subsidies.
Tesla also benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act’s $7,500 per EV tax credit, which we calculate amounted to about $1.25 billion this past quarter, and consumer EV rebates in some states. Tesla says it was owed $315 million in rebates at the end of the last quarter. And don’t forget the IRA’s manufacturing tax credits for solar panels and batteries, which is Tesla’s fastest-growing and most profitable business.
These credits can offset more than a third of the cost of producing batteries for EVs and power storage units. California and other states are using Tesla batteries to back up their grids as they strive to meet climate mandates. Tesla says IRA manufacturing credits boosted its energy generation and storage margins and that it expects this business to more than double this year.
It’s amusing to hear Democrats now howl that Mr. Musk is benefiting from their government largesse. Here’s a novel idea: Scrap all climate mandates and subsidies. That way Tesla can succeed or fail on its own merit.
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https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/why-americas-future-could-hinge-on
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting guy. Interesting story. He missed the part I am waiting for, Musk's evaluation of the internal federal government workings.
One negative point he reports:
Witness Musk’s declaration, last year, that Taiwan is an “integral part of China”. That is undoubtedly a precondition of doing business in that country. The Biden administration should have worked closely with Musk on supporting his factories here in America so that he would not have had to kowtow to the Chinese; instead, they largely snubbed him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwsngXbLF5I
I must point out that part, if true, is shameful, IMHO, puts him in a sellout position like Google and so many others.
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News flash: when “Progressives,” particularly those in academia, can’t control or lose control of who can post what, they either screech autistically and impotently or flee altogether:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/10/28/leftist-academics-flee-as-musks-x-ends-their-censorship-reign-how-free-speech-sent-the-ivory-tower-packing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=leftist-academics-flee-as-musks-x-ends-their-censorship-reign-how-free-speech-sent-the-ivory-tower-packing
Hmm, come to think of it, that has kinda happened around here. Damn you Crafty for not demanding only enlightened left leaning perspectives here!
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:-D
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https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/11/30/a-key-element-to-understanding-the-next-four-years/
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Musk and more silently Ellison all in on Trump. Schwartzmann
and Bezos and Zuckerberg crawling on hands and knees to join the club.
Wow at the thought
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-vs-harris-complete-list-of-billionaires-supporting-each-candidate/ar-AA1qkwve
Soros & Sons not even in the mention in the above article.
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1) https://morgthorak.substack.com/p/screw-elon-musk-and-x?publication_id=1155331&r=rne00
==================
2)
H1-Better Be Indian
Geoffrey Ingersoll, Editor at Large
December 27
Good morning, Dear Reader,
Here we are, last weekend in 2024.
What will ‘25 bring? Trump really only has 18 months before midterms gridlock DC. If he’s smart, he’ll thread the needle on immigration, and not just of the illegal variety.
With that …
H1-Better Be Indian
Vivek Ramaswamy really stepped in it.
In a 400+ word tweet, he criticized America’s everyone-gets-a-trophy culture that idolizes the likes of the Kardashians and “jocks” like “Slater” from 90s show “Saved by the Bell,” while ridiculing nerds like “Screech” from the same show.
His conclusion was baffling: America needs more entry-level foreign tech nerds because she’s too busy chucking footballs and Instagram likes to train and educate homegrown competition.
The problem: Vivek’s caricature of America, while containing some elements of truth, is a painfully superficial analysis of a complicated problem. His tweet set off a firestorm of criticism from the right.
Does America really need hundreds of thousands of Indian systems administrators – working slave-hours for fear of getting deported – because it places too much value on 6A High School football in west Texas? Competitive sports don’t teach children the values of merit? Corporations making outstanding employees train cheaper foreign replacements on visas is simply meritocracy at work?
(Also didn’t the guy playing “Screech” turn into a drug-addled criminal, while “Slater,” Mario Lopez, is a successful show host to this day? Anyway, onward.)
Trump originally set off this debate online by appointing Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-American immigrant, to be a senior adviser to the White House on artificial intelligence.
Nationalist MAGA went ballistic because he’s been vocal about removing nation of origin caps on “skilled” legal immigration.
Tech MAGA generally, and Musk specifically, like Krishnan in part because he represents everything a good immigrant should be: legal, skilled, aggressive, innovative, entrepreneurial, and finally, a fully naturalized American.
In an attempt to support Trump’s pick, Musk fired off a take on H1-B immigration. At face value, H1-B is a lottery system US Immigration uses to attract technically savvy immigrants, coders, chemists, engineers, etc. Musk’s take was unchanged from what it’s been for years: There are more tech jobs than Americans trained in tech jobs, therefore H1-B good, more H1-B.
Except that’s not quite true. Depending on how you look at Census Bureau data, there could actually be more organic, American tech workers than tech jobs. Of course, this data doesn’t account for self selection, people who simply opted not to work for major tech companies.
At the same time, there’s no doubt the insanely rapid growth in tech puts recruiters in a bind. They’re constantly in a cycle of finding people the company needed a year ago. That urgency begets a system where expediency rules.
Expediency drives big tech toward third-party talent corporations who habitually abuse the H1-B immigration system. It’s easy to conclude they discriminate against Americans, because judges and juries have already done it.
Do the companies themselves take part in this discrimination? There’s at least some evidence they do as well. Facebook, Disney, Google have all waged legal battles over H1-B immigration law.
And the anecdotes in some of these cases are staggering. In one case, Americans were 20 percent more likely to be terminated and Indians represented a full two-thirds of the company’s US-based talent pool.
There’s no doubt America needs to produce more skilled workers, but it also needs to reduce abuse of a system meant to attract truly outstanding minds.
“This is one of my biggest issues in life, dude,” my brother, a former Marine, HS varsity athlete, now computer engineer, told me this morning. “I’m feeling the effects. Computer engineering is extremely niche but dominated by Indian immigrants. So I only make 90k when I should be making 150k.”
There’s something fundamentally wrong with tech companies using this system to hire armies of inexperienced foreign workers at 70% the rates of Americans, driving down wages and disincentivizing homegrown talent. It would be one thing if Big Tech were using H1-Bs to attract this generation’s Albert Einstein or Nikola Tesla. But these visas are, by the numbers, disproportionately entry-level and overwhelmingly going to Indian citizens.
It’s a complicated problem for Trump 2.0, certainly not as easy as deporting brownbaggers at Home Depot who moonlight as petty criminals.
It also puts him at odds with Musk.
I guess we’ll really see who’s the bigger man.
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Interesting take on how and why Musk did what he’s doing w/ X:
https://x.com/heathahrens/status/1874851168834482564
Higher ed is in desperate need of this approach.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/pr-experts-say-elon-musk-s-handling-of-the-tesla-cybertruck-explosion-in-las-vegas-was-a-masterclass/ar-AA1wX5s7?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=cf277cd276bc40219bc7004869acf6aa&ei=12
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https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2025/01/05/musk-throws-farage-under-the-bus-claims-surging-reform-party-needs-new-leader/
I don't know about this. My opinion is stick to DOGE
Something wrong with this IMHO.
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FWIW
a) https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/01/theyre-trying-break-me-tommy-robinson-speaks-prison/
b) Maybe not a bad thing that Elon makes it clear that he is independent of Team Trump-- thus Trump does not have to back everything he says?
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-shares-clip-nazi-042128366.html
but I admit the imagery recalls the real Hitler.
I think he was suggesting we reach for the stars and Mars.
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Heh, imagine if the same energy was devoted to explicating Biden's pardons or executive orders:
Trump has repeatedly said America is entering a Golden Age. Maybe that is true. I certainly hope so. Or maybe, at some point, politics will encounter its normal reversion to the mean, and we’ll start to see some kind of effective resistance emerge. But just now, the Democrats are wrapping themselves around the axle of body language hysteria. Their complaint is some poorly-thought-through argument about Elon Musk being a secret crypto-Nazi, or something. It isn’t perfectly clear, but it’s all because he waved his arms the ‘wrong’ way during an excited rally moment on Monday.
Well, it’s his own fault. Elon neglected to submit his speech six weeks in advance for prior review by the Global Gesture Compliance Committee of the World Economic Forum in Brussels. Had he done so, the GGCC would have indicated that his proposed arm motion fell under the chapter ‘Faux Paus’ in the Committee’s Manual on Acceptable Waving (see page 1116).
The sad part is it could have been so easily avoided, had he just flashed the standard GGCC-approved princess wave, or even just flicked his wrist in a feminine downwards thrust at the finish. But with one careless arm-flail, Elon’s semaphore signal accidentally unlocked the Fourth Reich, a deplorable DLC module whose armies are assembling even now, and which, as you read this, are Goose Stepping their way through a fantastic zone of feverish progressive imagination.
Seriously though, the corporate media is so easy to troll. I’d bet decent money Elon created this controversy on purpose, taking a page from Trump’s own media-trollbook. Since progressives are so desperate for something to cling to, to reassure themselves as virtuous despite Trump’s landslide, they’ll even latch on to something as dumb as this.
This fracas over Elon’s wave is the adult equivalent of a child on a long car ride complaining that the other child keeps staring at them. He’s still looking at me!
They aren’t letting go of it either, no matter the cost. Behold, the Ouroboros of Outrage, the Left eating itself:
What’s most wonderful is that, while corporate media was busying itself with body language takedowns, finding secret pro-Hitler bias in errant gestures from over-excited billionaires, it was busily not reporting on gestures that actually matter, like the pen flourish at the end of the executive order President Trump signed yesterday, which drove an inky stake through the vampiric heart of D.E.I.
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/board-flippers-wednesday-january?r=2k0c5&fbclid=IwY2xjawH-I6tleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHaXsFuPaNvaLZInRNzN0vtpRbCbBmeU9TGuOSelo-W_oO7YqBOsJWbK4CQ_aem_tqyEhkMCwBcML9e-pYsnfw&triedRedirect=true
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https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1881855889310974316
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The Nazi salute claim is a statement of fact, rather than opinion, hence making a defamation suit easier to win. As such Musk should file suits against all making the clearly false claim he was offering up a Nazi salute:
https://townhall.com/columnists/kurtschlichter/2025/01/23/elon-musk-needs-to-sue-everybody-n2650961#google_vignette
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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/01/23/heil-musk-projected-onto-german-tesla-factory/
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https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-defends-elon-musk-after-hes-accused-of-giving-nazi-salute/
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I have known Elon Musk at a deep level for 14 years, well before he was a household name. We used to text frequently. He would come to my birthday party and invite me to his parties. He would tell me everything about his women problems. As sons of highly accomplished men who married venuses, were violent and lost their fortunes, and who were bullied in high school, we had a number of things in common most people cannot relate to. We would hang out together late in Los Angeles. He would visit my San Diego lab. He invested in my company.
Elon is not a Nazi, per se.
He is something much better, or much worse, depending on how you look at it.
Nazis believed that an entire race was above everyone else.
Elon believes he is above everyone else. He used to think he worked on the most important problems. When I met him, he did not presume to be a technical person — he would be the first to say that he lacked the expertise to understand certain data. That happened later. Now, he acts as if he has all the solutions.
All his talk about getting to Mars to “maintain the light of consciousness” or about “free speech absolutism” is actually BS Elon knowingly feeds people to manipulate them. Everything Elon does is about acquiring and consolidating power. That is why he likes far right parties, because they are easier to control. That is also why he gave himself $56 Billion which could have gone to the people actually doing the work and innovations he is taking credit for at Tesla (the reason he does not do patents is because he would not be listed as an inventor as putting a fake inventor on a patent would kill it and moreover it would reveal the superstars behind the work). His lust for power is also why he did xAI and Neuralink, to attempt to compete with OpenAI and NeuroVigil, respectively, despite being affiliated with them. Unlike Tesla and Twitter, he was unable to conquer those companies and tried to create rivals. He announced Neuralink just after I invited his ex-wife, which she and I notified him about, to a fundraising dinner for Hebrew University in London (The fact that she tried to kiss me — I immediately pushed her away — while taking a photo at that event, even if playfully, clearly may have added to the alienation and possible emasculation he may have felt when she spoke to me in a pool at a party when they were together and she was naked. To not be disrespectful to her or to him, I stayed but looked at the sky whilst talking to her). I fired him with cause in December 2021 when he tried to undermine NV. It is ironic that years later, he clearly tried to undermine Twitter before buying it, and in my view, blowing it up and using it to manipulate the masses to lean to the far right in country after country, including the USA.
[Here is more detail as some people asked. After he received a press release draft confirming NV never took a penny from the US Government, he asked to be removed from the Business Advisory Board, but then tried to give the stock he bought back, including for no money, which could have completely crashed NV’s stock price. I told him he was fired from the BAB, with cause, as he admitted he had not been participating. That also meant he had no ability to exercise his stock options (years prior, despite not being allowed to discuss his investment because of a solid NDA, he/his people leaked to the press that he had invested twice as much in NV as he actually did, as if the stock options had been counted as stock). This is the email I sent him around that time:
“Elon,
Only one of us apparently knows the difference between Science and PR, and between friendship and phonies, and unfortunately you ain’t it.
Let’s cut ties here.
Your NV stock is not being transferred, and if you try to transfer it without my consent, in contravention of your stock purchase agreement, I will have to shove my boots so deep up your derrière, legally, that your pissing contest with Bezos will seem like it was from another life, one you want to get back to.
Good luck with your implants, all of them, and with building Pottersville on Mars.
Seriously, don’t fuck with me.”
Elon has less than 0.05% of NV and was never a principal or principal investor in NV as was falsely reported by some. I own between 80 and 90%. NV is the most valuable neurotech company in the world and does not regard Neuralink as a competitor because we have an arsenal of patents and introduced our technology to customers in 2009 and furthermore do not view their implantable technology as scalable. Moreover, the company is apparently under investigation regarding statements Elon made to investors and most of Neuralink’s co-founders ditched Elon and the company.]
Elon did two Nazi salutes.
He did them for five main reasons:
1. He was concerned that the “Nazi wing” of the MAGA movement, under the influence of Steve Bannon, would drive him away from Trump, somewhere in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, rather than in the West Wing which is where he wants to be. He was already feeling raw over the fact that Trump did not follow his recommendation for Treasury Secretary and that the Senate also did not pick his first choice;
2. He was upset that he had had to go to Israel and Auschwitz to make up for agreeing with a Nazi sympathizer online and wanted to reclaim his “power” just like when he told advertisers to “go fuck yourself”. This has nothing to do with Asperger’s;
3. There are some Jews he actually hates: Sam Altman is amongst them;
4. He enjoys a good thrill and knew exactly what he was doing;
5. His narcissistic self was hoping the audience would reflect his abject gesture back to him, thereby showing complete control and dominion over it, and increasing his leverage over Trump. That did not happen.
Bottom line: Elon is not a Nazi but he did give two Nazi Salutes, which is completely unacceptable.
——————————————————————————-
N.B. For the few whining about my post “sans connaissance the cause” and either trembling about my having shattered their illusions about their cult leader or thinking I am defending Elon:
I. My point is that he is transactional rather than ideological;
II. That being said, I am not defending him or his actions, just explaining them and confirming that he did, in fact, do two Nazi Salutes if anyone had doubts or believed the doctored footage of Taylor Swift doing the same thing to normalize what Elon did;
III. At some point, it matters to few people if one is a Nazi or if one acts like one. My father was a Holocaust Survivor. 32 out of 35 of his family members were murdered by Nazis. My mother’s grandparents were murdered in Auschwitz;
IV. After Elon tried to manipulate NV’s stock in 2021, I fired him with cause, and he was unable to exercise his stock options. In the aftermath of the Nazi Salutes, I told both him and his wealth manager to fuck off. Any remaining friendship between us ended with the Nazi Salutes. He is blocked on my end and I am pretty sure I am blocked on his;
V. I did not share what he told me in confidence. I just happen to know him extremely well, the person, the aspirations and the Musk Mask;
VI. I know who I am, have no desire to be famous and give exceedingly few media interviews. I prefer to work in obscurity and let the work speak for itself. I am certainly not envious and would definitely not want Elon’s life, including living in a bubble and having to make one outlandish claim after another and manipulate the public, elections and governments to shore up my stock and prevent the bubble from bursting. Unlike Elon, I am an actual scientist and inventor and I am not pretending to be someone I am not, like a fellow who got his BA in Econ at 26 all of a sudden pretending to be an expert in mechanical engineering, chemistry, rocket science, neuroscience and AI and keeping the people actually doing the work hidden and paying people to play online games in his name to appear smart and feed his so-called “Supergenius” Personality Cult — the “Imperator” has no clothes, and he knows it. I am just very disappointed in what happened to someone I had a lot of deep admiration for and the first person to find out about my concerns about his behavior was always him;
VII. He is the one who betrayed a number of his friends, including Sergey, and, given his actions, many other people who believed him and believed in him. I have no sympathy for this behavior, and at some point, after having repeatedly confronted it in private, I believe the ethical thing to do is to speak out, forcefully and unapologetically, whatever the risks may be, so as to not be part of the timid flock remaining silent while evil is being done, including propping up far right governments around the world in part to deregulate his companies and become the first trillionaire and otherwise to “rule the planet” — he knows Mars won’t be terraformed in his lifetime and he really wants his planet. No joke… Ethics matter. People matter. The truth matters.
I took down Descartes (through the Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness) and I am definitely not afraid of a so-called inventor whose greatest invention is his image.
I will not be silent. You should not be either. I am a sovereign individual, and so are you. I stood up to bullies, and am stepping out of the dark to do it again.
Stop working for him and being exploited by him. Sell your Tesla and dump your Tesla stock. Nikola Tesla was a great, creative and courageous man who led with ethics and by example and he would not have wanted for his good name to have been used by him and would agree with my principled stance. Sign off of “X” which is boosting far right propaganda, and of your Starlink as well. He is a complete cunt (British slang not meant to be offensive to women) who doesn’t give a shit about you — only about power. Just ask Reid Hoffman. He only wants to control, dominate and use you — don’t let him and cut him and his businesses out of your and your loved ones’ lives entirely. Remember he is a total miserable self-loathing poser, and unless you happen to be one too, he will be much more afraid of you than you should ever be of him.
He will probably come after me, and I am completely fine with that. I am a self-made multibillionaire with an armada of lawyers — literally — and most importantly, I know who I am and who I stand for, the people and their freedoms, whatever happens. He can send his dumb Proud Boys and Oath Keepers after me and they will be butchered on sight. Either way, I would rather die with honor than live as a coward.
“Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” — Elie Wiesel, Holocaust Survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate
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wow
hard to ignore this excoriation of Musk.
just waiting for the day he and Donald have a blow out.
everyone knows it is coming....
but he did help DJT win which was a great thing and got rid of Twitter.
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Powerful people typically make powerful enemies.
The piece reads well, but we have seen for ourselves what Elon can do.
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/trump-is-trying-to-stop-a-major-ev-charger-rollout-that-counts-tesla-as-one-of-its-biggest-recipients/ar-AA1yAsDT?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=29678bda8b7c443d811b6bfd991fac51&ei=15
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And the rocks “Progressives” cast:
The Real Reason Dems Despise Musk
Muslims aren't the only ones who hate apostates
ROGER SIMON
FEB 07, 2025
Democrats have plenty of reasons to hate Elon Musk. His DOGE operation is making them look like crooks straight out of Boss Tweed-land with government waste, much of it to pay off friends and political allies, in the stratosphere. And he’s only getting started.
Already uncovered are at least a half-trillion in government waste regarding COVID-19. Giant sums of money were frittered away studying things like transgenderism in animals with absolutely no knowledge by taxpayers.
Thanks for reading AMERICAN REFUGEES: THE ROGER SIMON/SHERYL LONGIN SUBSTACK! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work.
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No one knows the extent of it, at least not yet.
Meanwhile, numerous ad hominem from the quondam left are appearing on X and the networks aimed at Musk’s youthful tech-savvy team, accusing them of being, essentially, too wet behind the ears to be doing this. Maybe it’s true of some of them, but worth noting is Founding Father James Monroe was 18 on July 4, 1776, Alexander Hamilton 21 and the great theorist of the Constitution James Madison 25.
Look for more of these smears going forward, but the deep down reason they most abhor Mr. Musk is that he is an apostate. He used to be on their side. He was their genius. What happened? (Maybe just the simple application of facts.)
The dislike of apostates is not just restricted to Muslims who have an unpleasant tradition of, shall we say, taking it to the mattress. Apostasy can be a monumental threat to all sorts of core beliefs (liberalism? progressivism?), especially when they are old and unexamined. Systems unravel.
The results can be catastrophic. The apostate must be stopped. When he is a well known one with justifiable respect, this is all the more urgent.
Such is the case of Elon Musk who has become the Democrats target number one, sometimes surpassing Donald Trump, and yet the man is arguably the Benjamin Franklin or even Leonardo DaVinci of our time. He has contributed more to humanity than the whole current US Congress combined—a low bar but still…
Musk, not the government, is the one tasked with bringing back our long-delayed astronauts from the space station. He is the first to show that rocket boosters can be recycled, catching them out of the air, saving huge amounts of money. He has connected the entire world to the internet via the satellites of his company Starlink that enabled hurricane-destroyed North Carolinians to communicate when the Biden administration did next to nothing.. His Tesla automobile is now within inches of being the first truly self-driving car. (I can attest to that since I own one.) His company Neurolink may be the most amazing of all as it draws close to being able to implant chips in the brain that would enable the blind to see. Oh, and he opened up Twitter, now X, that had previously been basically a government-run propaganda subsidiary banning information about everything from COVID to Hunter’s laptop.
And yes there’s more but that’s enough to understand why he is a target to the extent he is ludicrously accused, of all things, of being a Nazi for raising his arm in salute. I could say that is an example of projection, but in reality it's just stupid and out of control hatred and envy.
Making this more extreme is that Elon Musk is obviously a man of ideas with a remarkably fecund mind. The Democrat Party, as presently constituted, is out of ideas, new ones anyway. I can’t think of one from the recent presidential campaign other than the preservation of that hoariest of concepts, woke, that the public had long rejected.
Democrats should debate Musk all they want, but tell us where he is factually wrong. We’re waiting.
https://americanrefugees.substack.com/p/the-real-reason-dems-despise-musk?r=1qo1e&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true
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https://x.com/i/web/status/1889370026626441606
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/news/the-daily-show-accepts-elon-musk-s-offer/ar-AA1zS5im?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=7ee476de943949038d0549d451ab1439&ei=48
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https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/i-don-t-think-we-re-going-to-have-a-choice-elon-musk-predicts-universal-income-will-eventually-be-high-but-fears-people-will-feel-useless/ar-AA1zRGcy?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=8cd40de07b0049f7c8dc89b8db7b6ba7&ei=27
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second
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSOxPJD-VNo&t=85s
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second
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSOxPJD-VNo&t=85s
Wow, and I'm only part way through it.
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second
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSOxPJD-VNo&t=85s
12 excepts:
https://x.com/thefernandocz/status/1895997179132866942
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I click on it and get there, but there is nothing to click to get the 12 excerpts.
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I click on it and get there, but there is nothing to click to get the 12 excerpts.
I'm not exactly sure how it works but I think if your watch the first video it continues to the next or scroll down while watching.