Elon Musk

[Max Peck]

I suspect that he's just shitposting and thinks he's being oh-so-clever by implying that Biden/Harris are behind the attempts. It's also possible that he's going full Henry II and obliquely suggesting that someone should rid him of these troublesome liberals.

I think the former is the most natural reading of what he said. Of course, regardless of intent it's obviously also wildly reckless and irresponsible.

I was thinking back about something Trump said during his first campaign, and it may have colored my reading of Leon's post.

"If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks," Trump said at the rally in Wilmington, N.C. "Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know."

[LawBeefaroni]

I mean, I know you are right - but the level of power and irresponsibility here is out of wack.

Which is why he should get a visit from Secret Service - which I'd expect for anyone shouting similar things to millions of people. Second, he needs to be ejected from his U.S. government entanglements. Whatever security clearances he was given and the contracts he was provided. He's a menace and I suspect it's only going to get worse over the next ~50 days.

Government handouts kept Tesla afloat when it was facing meltdown. Federal resources allowed him to cover the atmosphere with his Starlink menace. He's an ungrateful turd in addition to all his other numerous flaws.

[LawBeefaroni]

I suspect that he's just shitposting and thinks he's being oh-so-clever by implying that Biden/Harris are behind the attempts. It's also possible that he's going full Henry II and obliquely suggesting that someone should rid him of these troublesome liberals.

I think the former is the most natural reading of what he said. Of course, regardless of intent it's obviously also wildly reckless and irresponsible.

I was thinking back about something Trump said during his first campaign, and it may have colored my reading of Leon's post.

"If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks," Trump said at the rally in Wilmington, N.C. "Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know."

Oh, make no mistake. This is all about "when do we get our shot?"

Fine tune your skills with this alternate reality Kamala Harris Shooting Target . She's on the run and a prison escapee. Did they lock her up for a white collar crime like laundering money through a charity or was she unable to use her silver tounge to make it to the top? The Kamala Harris Target is great for target shooting practice and training at indoor and outdoor gun ranges.

Like all of our photo targets the Kamala Harris Target has B27 Silhouette Target Rings to better track your target shooting.

Are these targets legal?

As citizens of the United States of America, our First Amendment Rights allow us to shoot, stab, cigar poke or destroy any picture of any person or political figure, as long as there is no credible threat to their lives.

[El Guapo]

I suspect that he's just shitposting and thinks he's being oh-so-clever by implying that Biden/Harris are behind the attempts. It's also possible that he's going full Henry II and obliquely suggesting that someone should rid him of these troublesome liberals.

I think the former is the most natural reading of what he said. Of course, regardless of intent it's obviously also wildly reckless and irresponsible.

I was thinking back about something Trump said during his first campaign, and it may have colored my reading of Leon's post.

"If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks," Trump said at the rally in Wilmington, N.C. "Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know."

IMO Trump's quote is a much more explicit threat.

[Alefroth]

Apparently, Musk tweeted this gem out today:

And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala?

(Emoji in original)

How is this ok?

Honestly, this should be a crime.

At the least his government contracts should be reviewed.

[Max Peck]

Mr. Popehat, Esq has some thoughts:

Elon Musk demonstrates how you can have 12 kids and have the soul of an incel.

Around 1900 murders a year in this state and nobody’s taken a shot at this freak.

[Unagi]

I suspect that he's just shitposting and thinks he's being oh-so-clever by implying that Biden/Harris are behind the attempts. It's also possible that he's going full Henry II and obliquely suggesting that someone should rid him of these troublesome liberals.

Henry II claimed he was only shitposting.

[Max Peck]

Oh, I'm pretty sure that we do understand the context...

US Secret Service says it is aware of Musk post about Biden, Harris

The U.S. Secret Service said on Monday it was aware of a post by billionaire Elon Musk on the X social media platform musing about an absence of assassination attempts on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Musk, who owns the platform, formerly known as Twitter, put up the post after a man suspected of planning to assassinate Republican former President Donald Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach was arrested on Sunday.

A Trump supporter and the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), Musk wrote on Sunday: "And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala," a post he ended with an emoji of a face with a raised eyebrow.

He was quickly criticized by X users from the left and right, who said they were concerned his words to nearly 200 million followers could incite violence against Biden and Harris.

Musk deleted the post but the Secret Service, tasked with protecting current and former presidents, vice presidents and other notable officials, took notice.

"The Secret Service is aware of the social media post made by Elon Musk and as a matter of practice, we do not comment on matters involving protective intelligence," a spokesperson told Reuters in an email. "We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees."

The spokesperson declined to specify whether the agency had reached out to Musk, who seemed to suggest in follow-up posts that he had been making a joke.

"Well, one lesson I've learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn't mean it's going to be all that hilarious as a post on X," he wrote. "Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don't know the context and the delivery is plain text."

[Sudy]

He's new to the internet, give him some time to learn how it works.

[Unagi]

That reminds me of a great joke I heard the other day.

Why did the chicken cross the road?
To put a bullet in Elon Musk's forehead in an attempt to redistribute his wealth and lubricate the economy.


Get it !?

[hepcat]

Wait...he DIDN'T want to get the other side too?

[Unagi]

The other side is woke.

[LordMortis]

At first he believed Musk didn't support either side but rather was a free speech absolutist libertarian.

[Isgrimnur]

The hardest lies to stop telling are the ones we tell ourselves.

[Exodor]

Which makes me wonder: is Musk actually just kind of stupid?

[gilraen]

That is absolutely brilliant.

[Max Peck]

It looks like there'll need to be another round of right-sizing in Leon's various businesses.

Workers at Musk's Tesla, SpaceX and X donate to Harris while he backs Trump

Billionaire Elon Musk has endorsed Republican former President Donald Trump in the race for the White House, but employees at his collection of companies are largely donating to Trump's Democratic rival Kamala Harris.

Workers at Tesla (TSLA.O) have contributed $42,824 to Harris' presidential campaign versus $24,840 to Trump's campaign, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks U.S. campaign contributions and lobbying data.

Employees at Musk's rocket company SpaceX have donated $34,526 to Harris versus $7,652 to Trump. Employees at the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, have donated $13,213 to Harris versus less than $500 to Trump.

While the figures are relatively small for campaign fundraising, they indicate political leanings at odds with Musk's own. The world's richest man, Musk has boosted Trump on X and dismissed left-leaning ideas as a "woke-mind virus."

Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He backed President Joe Biden in 2020 but has tacked rightward since then. Trump has said that if he wins the Nov. 5 election, he will appoint Musk to lead a government efficiency commission.

[Jaymann]

FAFO, Leon.

[The Meal]

I'm a little creeped out that they can tie campaign donations to folks' employers.

[Isgrimnur]

Federal Election Commission

The Commission maintains a database of individuals who have made contributions to federally registered political committees. Data on individual contributors includes the following:

• Name
• Occupation or Employer
• City
• State
• Date of transaction
• Amount of contribution
• Name of committee disclosing the contribution

[Kurth]

It looks like there'll need to be another round of right-sizing in Leon's various businesses.

Workers at Musk's Tesla, SpaceX and X donate to Harris while he backs Trump

Billionaire Elon Musk has endorsed Republican former President Donald Trump in the race for the White House, but employees at his collection of companies are largely donating to Trump's Democratic rival Kamala Harris.

Workers at Tesla (TSLA.O) have contributed $42,824 to Harris' presidential campaign versus $24,840 to Trump's campaign, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks U.S. campaign contributions and lobbying data.

Employees at Musk's rocket company SpaceX have donated $34,526 to Harris versus $7,652 to Trump. Employees at the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, have donated $13,213 to Harris versus less than $500 to Trump.

While the figures are relatively small for campaign fundraising, they indicate political leanings at odds with Musk's own. The world's richest man, Musk has boosted Trump on X and dismissed left-leaning ideas as a "woke-mind virus."

Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He backed President Joe Biden in 2020 but has tacked rightward since then. Trump has said that if he wins the Nov. 5 election, he will appoint Musk to lead a government efficiency commission.

Is it me, or are these shockingly low numbers for companies the size of Tesla, SpaceX and X (well, maybe not the shell of a company that is X today). Like I’m way more surprised by the low total amounts than by their distribution.

Considering what people get paid at those companies and the personal contribution limits, those seem like some paltry donations.

[Max Peck]

The article does say that they are small totals: "While the figures are relatively small for campaign fundraising, they indicate political leanings at odds with Musk's own." Without similar data from comparable companies, I have no idea whether or not they are unusually low.

[Kurth]

The article does say that they are small totals: "While the figures are relatively small for campaign fundraising, they indicate political leanings at odds with Musk's own." Without similar data from comparable companies, I have no idea whether or not they are unusually low.

Ok. I was interested in this and am stuck in a hotel room with nothing to do, so I did some digging.

Tesla has 140K employees. That ranks them 49 of the 100 largest employers in the U.S. Here are the companies in that neighborhood:

45. Apple (161K employees)
46. Oracle (159K employees)
47. McDonald’s (150K employees)
48. AT&T (149K employees)
49. Tesla (140K employees)
50. Tyson Foods (139K employees)
51. American Airlines (132K employees)
52. Johnson & Johnson (131K employees)

Here are the individual donations for those companies:

45. Apple (161K employees) $2.3M total
- Harris = $862K
- Trump = $44K

46. Oracle (159K employees) $2.1M total
-Harris = $323K
- Trump = $41K

47. McDonald’s (150K employees) $600K total
- Harris = $43K
- Trump = $31K

48. AT&T (149K employees) $1.4M total
- Harris = $212K
- Trump = $77K

49. Tesla (140K employees) $179K total
- Harris = $43K
- Trump = $25K

50. Tyson Foods (139K employees) $520K
- Harris = $17K
- Trump = $6K

51. American Airlines (132K employees) $1.2M
- Harris = $138K
- Trump = $269K

52. Johnson & Johnson (131K employees) $411K
- Harris = $106K
- Trump = $21K

Tesla seems to be an outlier in political contributions.

[Kraken]

In related news, don't fly American.

[Kurth]

In related news, don't fly American.

Yeah, that was noticeable. Also, the site is charting all contributions, up and down the ballot plus PAC donations. American was a real outlier in how red its employees contributions were. Like really, really red.

[Kraken]

In related news, don't fly American.

Yeah, that was noticeable. Also, the site is charting all contributions, up and down the ballot plus PAC donations. American was a real outlier in how red its employees contributions were. Like really, really red.

Seeing so many good guys at the other companies did make me happy.

[LordMortis]

In related news, don't fly American.

Noted but I'm not sure I've ever flown American.

[Isgrimnur]

In related news, don't fly American.

They're based out of DFW. I don't have much of a choice.

[Smoove_B]

Musk threatening to sue the FAA:

The Federal Aviation Administration alleged Tuesday that SpaceX violated its launch license requirements on two occasions last year by using an unauthorized launch control center and fuel farm at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The regulator seeks to fine SpaceX $633,009 for the alleged violations, which occurred during a Falcon 9 launch and a Falcon Heavy launch last year. Combined, the proposed fines make up the largest civil penalty ever imposed by the FAA's commercial spaceflight division.

“Safety drives everything we do at the FAA, including a legal responsibility for the safety oversight of companies with commercial space transportation licenses,” said Marc Nichols, the FAA's chief counsel, in a statement. “Failure of a company to comply with the safety requirements will result in consequences.”

Hours later, Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, vowed to sue the FAA, calling the proposed penalties an example of "lawfare" against his company. "SpaceX will be filing suit against the FAA for regulatory overreach," Musk posted on X, his social media platform.

Note:

The FAA said SpaceX has 30 days to respond to the allegations.

The last time the FAA imposed a fine on a commercial space company was last year when regulators fined SpaceX $175,000 for not submitting launch collision avoidance analysis trajectory data to the FAA for a Falcon 9 launch in 2022. SpaceX paid the fine in October 2023.

[LordMortis]

I'm surprised he doesn't just consider it the cost of doing business like railroads do and then pass the costs along. Of course, he wants to make an "hardcore" "efficiency" statement. I do so wish hardcore efficiency would start major cutting cashflow to his companies from federal coffers.

[Unagi]

Honestly, I think the worst advice my parents ever gave me as a small child was, "stop whining". That's apparently the main stat of the elite.

Oh wait - $$ too

[GreenGoo]

This just seems like a normal business day. I'm not being facetious. I assume this sort of thing is done behind closed doors on a regular basis. Corp violates regulations (or whatever), governing body assesses and imposes penalties, Corp responds, business continues.

There is nothing political about this, unless you see all regulations and oversight as political. Why Leon thought it appropriate to whine about this on social media I have no idea.

[Max Peck]

It's sort of politics-adjacent given that Trump plans to make Musk a "government efficiency" czar. It that comes to pass, he's going to be doing away with as much of this pesky oversight and regulation that he can. For the sake of efficiency, of course, not for revenge or to line his own pockets.

[LordMortis]

What's yours is mine and if you don't sell it to me I'll take it anyway.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/ ... rcna172016

But the land is near SpaceX’s operations, known as Starbase, and according to the lawsuit, SpaceX has been using the land without permission for about six months as a staging area for construction: clearing vegetation, parking vehicles, storing gravel and running generators.

“CAH acquired the Property for the sole purpose of ensuring that it would stay that way,” the lawsuit says.

Cards Against Humanity complained to SpaceX about the alleged trespassing and damage, according to a website the game maker set up devoted to the lawsuit. The company said SpaceX responded with a “lowball offer” to buy the land “for less than half” its value, with a 12-hour deadline to accept. Cards Against Humanity said it rejected the offer.

The company also said it would “accept Twitter.com as compensation,” referring to the social media app Musk bought in 2022 and renamed X.

The lawsuit was first reported by Reuters, which also relayed complaints from other neighbors about the swift development around Starbase.

The lawsuit includes what it says are before-and-after photographs of the Cards Against Humanity land, with grasses and cacti from before the alleged SpaceX intrusion and construction equipment and material after the alleged trespassing.

[LawBeefaroni]

As humanity's savior, it's only fitting that he crush Cards Against Humanity under his all-hat-no-cattle cowboy boots.



But really, says all you news to know about the bullshit behind his supposedly benevolent endeavors.

[LawBeefaroni]

From his daughter:

[Blackhawk]

Somebody isn't getting a pony this year.

[$iljanus]

Somebody isn't getting a pony this year.

Or a Father's Day card.

[Max Peck]

EU considers calculating X fines by including revenue from Musk’s other firms

European Union regulators warned Elon Musk's X platform that it may calculate fines by including revenue from Musk's other companies, including SpaceX, according to a Bloomberg article published today.

X was previously accused of violating the Digital Services Act (DSA), which could result in fines of up to 6 percent of total worldwide annual turnover. That fine would be levied on the "provider" of X, which could be defined to include other Musk-led firms.

Bloomberg writes that "regulators are considering whether sales from SpaceX, Neuralink, xAI and the Boring Company, in addition to revenue generated from the social network, should be included to determine potential fines against X, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the information isn't public." Bloomberg's report says that Tesla "sales would be exempt from this calculation because it's publicly traded and not under Musk's full control."

"In considering revenue from his other companies, the commission is essentially weighing whether Musk himself should be regarded as the entity to fine as opposed to X itself," Bloomberg's sources say.

Such a move would significantly increase potential fines, particularly given X's struggles in the advertising business. Brazil has already treated Musk-led companies as a single economic group and seized about $2 million from a Starlink bank account to cover X's fines.

[LawBeefaroni]

https://www.politico.eu/article/elon-mu ... -starlink/

Tech billionaire Elon Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

According to the Journal's intelligence sources, Musk and Putin continued to have talks into this year, even as Musk began to ramp up his criticism of U.S. military support for Ukraine and became actively involved in the election campaign of Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump.

Putin once asked the entrepreneur to avoid activating his Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan as a favor to Chinese President Xi Jinping, two people briefed on the request said.

His "all in" on Trump makes even more sense now. Both of them need a Trump win to avoid jail time.