Elon Musk

[LawBeefaroni]

Also, I should note that I'm not telling people what to drive, just what the plus/minus is. Driving or not driving one single Tesla won't change anything any more than one single vote will. But in aggregate, there is significant impact.

[Blackhawk]

How many people can afford to park a functional vehicle and grab a new one just to make a political stand? We're talking about new cars here, not skipping Chic-fil-A.

[waitingtoconnect]

Reddit is stomping on anti Elon commentary. Be cautious what you post. This is no longer a free country,

[WYBaugh]

Reddit is stomping on anti Elon commentary. Be cautious what you post. This is no longer a free country,

Which subreddits?

[Isgrimnur]

Reddit temporarily bans r/WhitePeopleTwitter after Elon Musk claimed it had ‘broken the law’

Reddit has temporarily banned the subreddit r/WhitePeopleTwitter after Elon Musk complained about the community. The subreddit is currently inaccessible with a message from Reddit stating that the community has been banned for 72 hours due to “a prevalence of violent content.”

[LordMortis]

Reddit temporarily bans r/WhitePeopleTwitter after Elon Musk claimed it had ‘broken the law’

Reddit has temporarily banned the subreddit r/WhitePeopleTwitter after Elon Musk complained about the community. The subreddit is currently inaccessible with a message from Reddit stating that the community has been banned for 72 hours due to “a prevalence of violent content.”

I suppose that's his free speech absolutist approach when it's not his public square saying what he approves of. You can only threaten people he approves of threatening.

That said, I don't approve of threats either. Physician heal thyself. I wonder how much his personal security detail get paid because I can only imagine threats of violence are going to get worse and quickly.

[Blackhawk]

Was that the only sub affected? It's possible that there's more context.

[WYBaugh]

https://undelete.pullpush.io/r/WhitePeo ... dentified/

And this piece of shit in the enabler:

interim US Attorney Ed Martin offered his assistance in “protecting the DOGE work” from threats. “We will not tolerate threats against DOGE workers or law-breaking by the disgruntled,” he wrote on X Monday. “Any threats, confrontations, or any actions in any way that impact their work may break numerous laws,”

[Isgrimnur]

A wise man said, "Vagueness in legal threats is the hallmark of meritless thuggery. "

[waitingtoconnect]

You can read into that threat that naming employees or disagreeing with Doge activities even when protected by your first amendment rights is interference.

It doesn’t have to hold up in court either.

People need to understand their rights are now in real danger. Congress and the courts need to understand their opportunity to act is fast closing if it hasn’t already.

This altered video was used to imprison a critic of the Philippines president.

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact- ... d-coddler/

She was held for six years on a charge that had she been found guilty would have meant she could he imprisoned for no more than six months.

Members of the “Squad” in Congress already have such false videos being circulated.

https://newrepublic.com/post/191135/elo ... ilhan-omar

[Kraken]

Also, I should note that I'm not telling people what to drive, just what the plus/minus is. Driving or not driving one single Tesla won't change anything any more than one single vote will. But in aggregate, there is significant impact.

Tesla sales drop by double digits in CA

Tesla’s sales have dropped by double digits in California, the most important EV market in the US, all while the rest of the EV market is growing.

California is the biggest market for electric vehicles in the US and by a wide margin. In fact, if it wasn’t for California, the US would be even further lagging behind the rest of the world in EV adoption.

For years, Tesla has been dominating the market.

While its market shares of the California EV market has been going down with competition, Tesla was still able grow its volumes in California as EV adoption is taking a hold of the market.

Now, it’s not the case anymore.

Down by 11.7% (~27,000 vehicles) between 2023-24 -- and that's before Leon went full fascist. I imagine sales will crater further in '25.

[raydude]

How many people can afford to park a functional vehicle and grab a new one just to make a political stand? We're talking about new cars here, not skipping Chic-fil-A.

I realized that while the above applies to me I can also divest myself of all Tesla stock. Which I just did. The only Tesla stock I own is tied up in the S&P 500 index ETF, but I'm not letting go of that.

[raydude]

How many people can afford to park a functional vehicle and grab a new one just to make a political stand? We're talking about new cars here, not skipping Chic-fil-A.

I realized that while the above applies to me (in the sense that I can't just pick up a new car when I want to make a statement) I can instead divest myself of all Tesla stock. Which I just did. The only Tesla stock I own is tied up in the S&P 500 index ETF, but I'm not letting go of that.

edited to make myself more clear.

[LawBeefaroni]

How many people can afford to park a functional vehicle and grab a new one just to make a political stand? We're talking about new cars here, not skipping Chic-fil-A.

Sell it, don't park it. And Teslas are largely aspirational purchases. This is an existential thing.

I was behind a Tesla Uber today and the guy was probably on a lease. I get that he can't just swap it out and I wouldn't expect him to.

But I dropped my son off at school and the $6M house across the street still has the cyber truck parked out front along with the pink model 3 and a few model Ss. Sure, the property tax bill is probably a bitch so maybe they're strepped for cash but having a Tesla showroom street parked out front? I'd consider that explicit support.

[LawBeefaroni]

How many people can afford to park a functional vehicle and grab a new one just to make a political stand? We're talking about new cars here, not skipping Chic-fil-A.

I realized that while the above applies to me (in the sense that I can't just pick up a new car when I want to make a statement) I can instead divest myself of all Tesla stock. Which I just did. The only Tesla stock I own is tied up in the S&P 500 index ETF, but I'm not letting go of that.

edited to make myself more clear.

That's definitve action! You may even be rewarded, lots of downside bets on TSLA right now.

And yes, I probably own TSLA in index funds. I've been working to unload the broadest ones to reduce exposure in TSLA and NVDA.

[Zaxxon]

FWIW, while I disagree with the 'buy products based on the top guy, forget the other 100k+ people at the company' stance, I've also been divesting from TSLA over the past year and will continue to do so. Also voted against his pay package last year, for all the good that did.

And a Rivian may be in the cards before too long here.

Really wish Musk would just GTFO out already. I mean, he's the one that's been pushing the stance that you have to be physically present at the office in order to have an impact, right? Sure hasn't been at the office at Tesla much in the past year-plus.

[LordMortis]

And yes, I probably own TSLA in index funds. I've been working to unload the broadest ones to reduce exposure in TSLA and NVDA.

I was just chastised for my concern over such things. (although my concern is TSLA is different then my concern NVDA. One is my desire to not support Nazi fascism. The other is my desire to mitigate myself from the inevitable collapse of the AI house of cards. Pragmatically, both would see me protect myself from valuations that are out of control and result in out of control % of my portfolio going along for the ride)

[Smoove_B]

Now he's in the Medicare and Medicaid system. I do not understand how this continues, other than the constant refrain of "But a dog can't play basketball!" repeating in my mind.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team has been working at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where they have gotten access to payment and contracting systems, Anna Wilde Mathews and Liz Essley Whyte of Wall Street Journal report, citing people familiar with the matter. The DOGE representatives have been on site at the agency’s offices this week, looking at the systems’ technology to try to uncover consider fraud or waste, sources told the Journal. DOGE representatives are also examining CMS’s organizational design and how it is staffed, the people added.

[raydude]

Now he's in the Medicare and Medicaid system. I do not understand how this continues, other than the constant refrain of "But a dog can't play basketball!" repeating in my mind.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team has been working at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where they have gotten access to payment and contracting systems, Anna Wilde Mathews and Liz Essley Whyte of Wall Street Journal report, citing people familiar with the matter. The DOGE representatives have been on site at the agency’s offices this week, looking at the systems’ technology to try to uncover consider fraud or waste, sources told the Journal. DOGE representatives are also examining CMS’s organizational design and how it is staffed, the people added.

I'm really really hoping the DOGs aren't going line by line and trying to determine whether a given payment request is fraud. I don't think anything good will come out of letting a 19-24 year old determine that. Or Musk for that matter.

[Holman]

So they're just jumping from agency to agency, snooping (and presumably copying) data? They definitely aren't doing analysis or even understanding what they're looking at, because none of these dorks have the training or have had the time to do anything but speed-scroll through it.

This is all covering up something else. They're making of show of "finding" things, but their findings are predetermined: a fig-leaf of an excuse to shut programs down either for the sheer love of chaos or to justify eventual privatization.

File under "coup."

[Smoove_B]

Exactly! Think about the training federal workers likely undergo regarding electronic safety - passwords, not plugging in USB drives, not clicking on suspicious emails or downloading attachments. And now Musk and his team are just randomly bouncing around various agencies, connecting their hardware and "scraping" data. I have no doubt they're leaving things in the system to allow them future remote access.

I get that Chuck Schumer and the gang are "filing lawsuits" and sending strongly worded letters. Sure, they're demanding Elon appears in Congress for a hearing (and being denied). Meanwhile we're witnessing what is likely the biggest "computer hack" ever perpetrated and they're doing it out in the open.

Remember in early January when everyone was whipped up into a frenzy about TikTok stealing data from your phones? Now Elon has access to way more information than the Chinese presumably ever did and we're doing fuck all about it.

[pr0ner]

And yes, I probably own TSLA in index funds. I've been working to unload the broadest ones to reduce exposure in TSLA and NVDA.

I was just chastised for my concern over such things. (although my concern is TSLA is different then my concern NVDA. One is my desire to not support Nazi fascism. The other is my desire to mitigate myself from the inevitable collapse of the AI house of cards. Pragmatically, both would see me protect myself from valuations that are out of control and result in out of control % of my portfolio going along for the ride)

It remains silly to think an S&P 500 ETF would exclude an S&P 500 stock.

[Max Peck]

So they're just jumping from agency to agency, snooping (and presumably copying) data? They definitely aren't doing analysis or even understanding what they're looking at, because none of these dorks have the training or have had the time to do anything but speed-scroll through it.

This is all covering up something else. They're making of show of "finding" things, but their findings are predetermined: a fig-leaf of an excuse to shut programs down either for the sheer love of chaos or to justify eventual privatization.

File under "coup."

Tut-tut. Remember, it's not a coup until Trump is President God-King for Life. Until then it's just some sort of series of unfortunate events or something.

[LawBeefaroni]

Now he's in the Medicare and Medicaid system. I do not understand how this continues, other than the constant refrain of "But a dog can't play basketball!" repeating in my mind.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency team has been working at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, where they have gotten access to payment and contracting systems, Anna Wilde Mathews and Liz Essley Whyte of Wall Street Journal report, citing people familiar with the matter. The DOGE representatives have been on site at the agency’s offices this week, looking at the systems’ technology to try to uncover consider fraud or waste, sources told the Journal. DOGE representatives are also examining CMS’s organizational design and how it is staffed, the people added.

I'm really really hoping the DOGs aren't going line by line and trying to determine whether a given payment request is fraud. I don't think anything good will come out of letting a 19-24 year old determine that. Or Musk for that matter.

Willful violation of HIPAA PHI. Would cost anyone else $10K per record in fines.

[Smoove_B]

Willful violation of HIPAA PHI. Would cost anyone else $10K per record in fines.

And from earlier today eRA

NEW from inside NIH: I am hearing that a “young” DOGE staffer now has access to eRA, the software system used to track/administer all NIH grants.

Highly confidential research data. Can't imagine what someone like Musk would want with all that information. He's committing the biggest heist ever perpetrated and everyone is standing around asking if he can do it -or- shrugging their shoulders.

[Blackhawk]

RE: Coup and technicalities.

Trump is sharpening knives, getting out the bonesaw, laying out plastic, filling tubs with acid, and wearing plastic gloves. He has a boat full of sandbags. He has a list of chosen victims.

He hasn't committed murder just yet - it's just obvious that he's getting ready to. Just because it's not murder until he carries it out doesn't mean that we can't see that murder is what's happening.

[Blackhawk]

I do wonder if he's doing entirely for his own purposes, or if he's siphoning it off for others. You've got to admit - that would be a master blow for a nation like China or Russia.

[Smoove_B]

I do wonder if he's doing entirely for his own purposes, or if he's siphoning it off for others. You've got to admit - that would be a master blow for a nation like China or Russia.

I figured some of it was related to giant hard on he probably has thinking about controlling the US Treasury, sure. But all that information? I can only imagine how much it's worth. He doesn't need money, but I'm sure he'd love to trade it for power and access. To add more to the list of the ways were are in trouble:

[Holman]

I wonder when the split between Trump and Musk will come. How much longer can Trump stomach Musk getting all the attention and being treated as the most powerful player in Washington?

We know there will be a Night of the Long Knives, but do we know who'll be getting the sharp end? Trump and MAGA enthrall the base, but Musk and the technofascists have the money--they could suck the life out of any political campaign they choose, and I'm sure they would prefer Thiel-protege Vance to Trump himself.

Gathering up all this data helps Musk specifically. It's possible that he won't be interested in sharing with POTUS.

[Smoove_B]

While I don't know for sure, I suspect Musk has the ability to make the people he's dealing with think they're collaborating on whatever scheme he's cooking up. Meaning, I'm guessing he's savvy enough to make Trump feel like he's still important and/or benefiting from whatever Musk is doing - because Musk has much bigger things in mind (the long con) with all this and wants the bragging rights associated with pulling it off (plus whatever information he's now getting).

[Max Peck]

I'm far from convinced that there will be a split, but it's fun to spitball the possibilities...

Musk has the money for now, but Trump has the guys with the guns, and that's always where real power lies in the end. If they do have a serious falling out, what's to stop Trump from issuing a national security EO that nationalizes SpaceX, Tesla and Xitter and freezes all of Musk's assets before swallowing them up into the new sovereign wealth fund? Just to be safe, he could even ship him off to Gitmo to keep him from stirring up trouble.

[Blackhawk]

I wonder when the split between Trump and Musk will come. How much longer can Trump stomach Musk getting all the attention and being treated as the most powerful player in Washington?

That depends on how much Trump dirt he can dig up as he goes through the entirety of the US government data. If he gets the right files before that happens, Musk will be in charge.

[Zarathud]

With that money data, Elon can tell Trump who to target in a shakedown. For Trump, it’s all about avoiding accountability, maximizing profit, and ego.

Elon has enough confidential data to insider trade for years. Or to train an AI. Or to compromise all of the U.S. government to Russia.

[gbasden]

Musk has the money for now, but Trump has the guys with the guns, and that's always where real power lies in the end. If they do have a serious falling out, what's to stop Trump from issuing a national security EO that nationalizes SpaceX, Tesla and Xitter and freezes all of Musk's assets before swallowing them up into the new sovereign wealth fund? Just to be safe, he could even ship him off to Gitmo to keep him from stirring up trouble.

That depends on whether Trump has orders from Putin to let him do it. Given that Tulsi is DNI, I have to imagine that Putin is the one really in charge.

[raydude]

Musk has the money for now, but Trump has the guys with the guns, and that's always where real power lies in the end. If they do have a serious falling out, what's to stop Trump from issuing a national security EO that nationalizes SpaceX, Tesla and Xitter and freezes all of Musk's assets before swallowing them up into the new sovereign wealth fund? Just to be safe, he could even ship him off to Gitmo to keep him from stirring up trouble.

That depends on whether Trump has orders from Putin to let him do it. Given that Tulsi is DNI, I have to imagine that Putin is the one really in charge.

Many years from now, historians will be writing about how the United States was overthrown by Russia simply because an idiot was elected by a bunch of idiots and then proceeded to appoint other idiots in charge.

[hepcat]

I wonder when the split between Trump and Musk will come. How much longer can Trump stomach Musk getting all the attention and being treated as the most powerful player in Washington?.

We all know it’s going to happen. My fear is that it will happen at the point of no return for Musk’s invasion of various institutions. After he’s onboarded so much that stopping leaves things in a far worse state than when he started.

[Kraken]

Exactly! Think about the training federal workers likely undergo regarding electronic safety - passwords, not plugging in USB drives, not clicking on suspicious emails or downloading attachments. And now Musk and his team are just randomly bouncing around various agencies, connecting their hardware and "scraping" data. I have no doubt they're leaving things in the system to allow them future remote access.

I get that Chuck Schumer and the gang are "filing lawsuits" and sending strongly worded letters. Sure, they're demanding Elon appears in Congress for a hearing (and being denied). Meanwhile we're witnessing what is likely the biggest "computer hack" ever perpetrated and they're doing it out in the open.

Remember in early January when everyone was whipped up into a frenzy about TikTok stealing data from your phones? Now Elon has access to way more information than the Chinese presumably ever did and we're doing fuck all about it.

Yeah, he who controls the computers controls the government, and when Musk moves along nobody gets access without his say-so.

[Kraken]

I can't remember in which thread we were going off about Teslas yesterday and I'm too lazy to check them all. At the rate things are moving the discussion is probably already a page or two back anyway, so I'll just pick up that sidetrack again here: Teslas turn toxic as sales crash in Europe

Early car sales data for January is starting to arrive from countries across the pond, and they paint an alarming picture for Tesla. Sales are crashing in France, Germany, and the UK—all affluent countries that are key markets for Tesla's electric vehicles. Coming on the heels of a large financial miss, it's just one more problem for the automaker.

Tesla sales dropped around 13 percent across Europe in 2024, but so far this year, the scale of the problem is far greater. In France, sales of new Teslas fell by 63 percent, while total car sales in the country fell by just 6 percent, with EV sales dropping just half a percent.

Germany was already looking like lost ground for Tesla—its 41 percent drop in 2024 accounted for most of Tesla's lost sales across Europe. That must make the 59 percent drop in German Tesla sales recorded during January even more painful on the profit and loss statements.

Across the Channel, the British auto industry just released its sales data for January. Here, Tesla sales fell less precipitously—just 12 percent. However, battery EV sales were 35 percent higher in the UK in January 2025 than in January 2024. The cake is growing, but Tesla is getting to eat less and less of it.

In the US, Tesla sales are down by double-digits in CA, by far the largest EV market.

[waitingtoconnect]

I wonder when the split between Trump and Musk will come. How much longer can Trump stomach Musk getting all the attention and being treated as the most powerful player in Washington?.

We all know it’s going to happen. My fear is that it will happen at the point of no return for Musk’s invasion of various institutions. After he’s onboarded so much that stopping leaves things in a far worse state than when he started.

If he gets an AI into run the federal government payment, research and other key systems he will likely become the worlds first trillionare. And he will run the country like a Bond villain.

He will likely duplicate the treasury payment system, have it outsourced to him by Congress for a cut of all payments. He will tie the federal government into this business empire so it is a subsidiary of X Corp.

He will attempt to leverage that financial control into actually running the country.

[hepcat]

That may be going a bit too far. You can have a shitty outcome that isn’t Hollywood villain inspired. Unless someone knows for sure that Elon owns a white cat?