Tag Archives: Elon Musk

New York Times: Inside Pete Hegseth’s Rocky First Months at the Pentagon

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The disclosure of battle plans on a chat app created a new predicament for the defense secretary.

There’s nothing that can’t be cured by few stiff drinks:

Even before he disclosed secret battle plans for Yemen in a group chat, information that could have endangered American fighter pilots, it had been a rocky two months for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Mr. Hegseth, a former National Guard infantryman and Fox News weekend host, started his job at the Pentagon determined to out-Trump President Trump, Defense Department officials and aides said.

The president is skeptical about the value of NATO and European alliances, so the Pentagon under Mr. Hegseth considered plans in which the United States would give up its command role overseeing NATO troops. After Mr. Trump issued executive orders targeting transgender people, Mr. Hegseth ordered a ban on transgender troops.

Mr. Trump has embraced Elon Musk, the billionaire chief executive of SpaceX and Tesla. The Pentagon planned a sensitive briefing to give Mr. Musk a firsthand look at how the military would fight a war with China, a potentially valuable step for any businessman with interests there.

Inside Pete Hegseth’s Rocky First Months at the Pentagon – The New York Times

Politico: Musk’s X suspends opposition accounts in Turkey amid civil unrest

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Suspensions affect accounts spreading information about the widespread demonstrations.

Helping another wannabe dictator stay in power:

Elon Musk’s social media platform X has suspended several accounts belonging to opposition figures in Turkey amid widespread civil unrest in the country.

But hypocrits don’t need to apologize for a few petty inconsistencies:

Musk, a self-proclaimed protector of free speech, said he acquired X to restore free speech on the platform.

Musk’s X suspends opposition accounts in Turkey amid civil unrest
Suspensions affect accounts spreading information about the widespread demonstrations.

Musk’s X suspends opposition accounts in Turkey amid civil unrest – POLITICO

Los Angeles Times: Americans aren’t waiting for the Democratic Party to take on Trump

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Now, for those who think that firebombing Tesla dealerships is a better tactic than nonviolent protests, I would remind you of the world-changing work of Gandhi and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. And I would also tell you about the work of Harvard political scientist Erica Chenoweth and her colleagues. To Chenoweth’s surprise — shock, actually — she discovered that over time, nonviolent protests are far more successful than violent ones.

Between 1900 and 2006, she says, campaigns of nonviolent civil resistance were twice as successful as violent campaigns. She also came up with the so-called 3.5% rule: No government can withstand a challenge from around 3.5% of its population without accommodating the movement.

…

To hit the magic percentage, about 11 million Americans would have to rise up. In 2017, nearly half a million people protested Trump at the Women’s March in Washington. Around the United States, between 3.2 million and 5.2 million people joined in, which amounts to between 1% and 1.6% of the population.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that twice as many Americans are now upset enough to take to the streets.

The goal is not to overthrow the government. The goal is to awaken the small-d democratic instincts of a Republican-dominated Congress that has actively ceded its power to Trump. And the only way they’ll snap to is if they begin to fear for their jobs.

Column: Americans aren’t waiting for the Democratic Party to take on Trump
The Democratic Party hasn’t found a way to meet Trump’s authoritarian moment, but if enough voters take to the streets in peaceful protest, change will come.

Column: Americans aren’t waiting for the Democratic Party to take on Trump – Los Angeles Times

Daily Beast: Fox News Analyst Floored by Hegseth’s Attempt to Deny Bombshell Leak

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Trump’s Bimbo #3 Pam Bondi needs to butt out & mind her own business. Non-violent protest is protected free speech. Read the First Amendment, toots. If you can read.

The bell has rung to signal the start of Round 2 between Attorney General Pam Bondi and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, as Trump’s top legal enforcer demands the Texas Democrat apologize to Tesla shareholders for her public criticism of the automaker.

The saga started after Crockett voiced her support for #TeslaTakedown, a group organizing nonviolent protests against Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company. In response, Bondi told Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo Monday that the congresswoman needed to “tread very carefully.”

Crockett appeared shortly after on MSNBC to remind Bondi that she had not “promoted violence whatsoever.”

But Bondi was not done.

And it goes on …

Pam Bondi Wants Jasmine Crockett to Apologize to Tesla Shareholders
“She must apologize immediately not only to all Texans, but to our country, to the American shareholders of Tesla, because she is promoting violence,” Bondi said.

Pam Bondi Wants Jasmine Crockett to Apologize to Tesla Shareholders

Washington Post: Trump’s shocking military plan leak epitomizes a sloppy operation

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The second Trump administration has clearly made a decision to move fast and break things. Largely gone are the establishment Republican figures and steady hands that sometimes resisted President Donald Trump during his first term. In their place are a bunch of people with less subject-matter and governmental experience but with the zeal of MAGA true believers, eager to implement Trump’s complete governmental overhaul and to bust through the traditional guardrails in the process.

The result is a very — and increasingly — sloppy first two months, by any objective measure.

The editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, was added to the string of messages on Signal, an open-source encrypted messaging service. The group included the names of prominent administration figures, such as national security adviser Michael Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Vice President JD Vance, all strategizing about the impending attacks.

The messages were sent before the strikes began last weekend and previewed almost precisely when they ultimately took place.

Trump’s shocking military plan leak epitomizes a sloppy operation

Donald Trump is lying about Social Security. Elon Musk is sabotaging it.

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Donald Trump is lying about Social Security. Elon Musk is sabotaging it. Together, they’ve created a slow-motion theft disguised as reform — a deliberate, calculated effort to break America’s most important safety net and blame the victims when it fails.

This isn’t just reckless governance. It’s cruelty wrapped in a spreadsheet — a war on America’s elderly, waged by a billionaire with a god complex and a president too lazy to learn the facts.

THE LIE THAT STARTED IT ALL

In his recent speech to Congress, Trump stood before the nation and claimed that millions of “dead” people were still in the Social Security system, draining taxpayer dollars with fraudulent checks. He said there were 4.7 million people aged 100 to 109 still on the rolls. He claimed 3.6 million people over the age of 110 were receiving benefits. By the time he suggested nearly 3.5 million people aged 140 to 149 were cashing Social Security checks, it sounded less like a speech and more like a fevered rant from a man who still believes windmills cause cancer.

The numbers weren’t just wrong — they were laughably impossible. The SSA’s own data shows that only about 44,000 records with unverifiable birthdates are still linked to active benefits. The agency has long had automated systems in place that suspend payments for anyone listed as 115 or older unless they actively prove they’re alive. Trump’s wild claims about centenarians on the take weren’t just exaggerated — they were fantasy.

But the truth didn’t matter. Trump’s lie wasn’t meant to inform. It was meant to create panic — to convince Americans that Social Security is a bloated, broken program riddled with fraud. Once that lie took root, the rest of his plan could unfold.

…

Fear and Loathing: Closer to the Edge
Donald Trump is lying about Social Security. Elon Musk is sabotaging it. Together, they’ve created a slow-motion theft disguised as reform — a deliberate, calculated effort to break America’s most…

Donald Trump is lying… – Fear and Loathing: Closer to the Edge | Facebook

Seattle Times: Seattle activist verbally attacked by Elon Musk vows to push back

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If Musk can’t take the heat, he shouldn’t be a federal employee, “special” or otherwise.

Threatening messages began filling up Valerie Costa’s inboxes after Elon Musk in an X post accused her of “committing crimes.”

Her alleged crimes? Leading and promoting protests against Musk at Tesla showrooms across the Seattle area.

Costa and her housemates started asking whether they are safe and whether the FBI or law enforcement will show up. She then began to pull the website for her fundraising and nonprofit management business offline and scrubbed her personal information from the internet.

Nevertheless, threats continued.

…

But no criminal activity has been reported at anti-Tesla protests in Seattle, said Sgt. Patrick Michaud with the Seattle Police Department.

Nevertheless, the lack of criminal activities at those protests hasn’t stopped Musk and others from accusing Costa and others of violating laws. Musk’s post on X quoted a video suggesting Costa was inspired by Luigi Mangione, the man charged in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, which Costa said is not true.

Musk’s tweet and rhetoric from federal authorities communicate a grim message about the state of protections for the First Amendment, Costa said.

Seattle activist verbally attacked by Elon Musk vows to push back
Threatening messages began filling up Valerie Costa’s inboxes after Elon Musk in an X post accused her of “committing
crimes.”

Seattle activist verbally attacked by Elon Musk vows to push back

Tagtik: New blow for Musk: personal information about his supporters leaked

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It’s a downfall for the Tesla CEO who has been at the centre of criticism for a few weeks. 

Elon Musk’s political positions are far from pleasing, and some are keen to make this known through targeted actions against his company Tesla. 

Following cars set on fire in front of a repair centre in Las Vegas, it seems that new protest movements are forming to bring down Trump’s right-hand man. And now it’s the anonymous site named “Dogequest” attacking him by revealing personal information about the owners of Tesla (in the United States) as well as employees of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by Musk, reports The Independent. And according to the New York Post, names, phone numbers, and addresses have reportedly been published on the “Dogequest” site.

New blow for Musk: personal information about his supporters leaked
It’s a downfall for the Tesla CEO who has been at the centre of criticism for a few weeks. Elon Musk’s political positions are far from pleasing, and some are keen to make this known through targeted actions against his company Tesla. Following cars set on fire in front of a repair centre in Las Vegas, it seems that new protest movements are forming to bring down Trump’s right-hand man. And now it’s the anonymous site named “Dogequest” attacking…

New blow for Musk: personal information about his supporters leaked

Curtis Yarvin, the Billionaires’ Philosopher

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Fear and Loathing: Closer to the Edge
Curtis Yarvin doesn’t want to fix democracy — he wants to kill it, drag the corpse out back, and set it on fire. In its place, he envisions a cold, ruthless world where billionaires sit on thrones,…

https://www.facebook.com/FearAndLoathingCloserToTheEdge/posts/638073655528607

Is Social Security Safe? Is any of this legal?

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Is Any of This Legal? (ft. Rebecca Slaughter) | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich
Trump illegally fired two consumer protection champions from the FTC.Heather and I spoke with one of them about the oligarchs pulling Trump’s strings — and t…

Is Any of This Legal? (ft. Rebecca Slaughter) | The Coffee Klatch with Robert Reich