Tag Archives: Elon Musk

He’ll NEVER Make My ‘Good People’ Posts!!!

Posted on by under Economic issues, Election 2024, Global Issues, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

A very ugly man, both inside and out, Elon Musk has flown onto my radar and left a terrible stench there more than a few times of late.  I think that while many of us have disliked Elon for a while now, we have underestimated him.  We long since pegged him as a greedy, opportunistic ‘man’ without an ounce of humanity, but today I have the sense that he is much more dangerous than that, that he believes his money can buy him ownership of the world.  I’ll let Robert Reich take over from here …

The second worst person in American public life is …

We can fight Trump with our votes. But what to do about his newfound ally?

By Robert Reich

08 August 2024

In yesterday’s Office Hours, I said I’ve started to imagine we can relegate Trump to the dustbin of history along with some of the other horrible people in American public life today.

I asked you to vote on the second-worst person. I nominated JD Vance, Clarence Thomas, Tucker Carlson, and Elon Musk.

Over 4,800 of you participated in the poll (as of midnight ET).

JD Vance garnered just 3 percent of your votes. Tucker Carlson, 4 percent. Clarence Thomas got 32 percent.

But the winner by far, with 57 percent, is Elon Musk.

Several of you explained that although Thomas is powerful and unaccountable, he’s just one of nine powerful and unaccountable justices. But Musk is rapidly transforming his enormous wealth — he’s the richest person in the world — into a huge source of unaccountable political power that’s now backing Trump and other authoritarians around the world.

Musk owns X. He recently released an AI chatbot that told hundreds of millions that “the ballot deadline has passed” in several states, including the battlegrounds of Michigan, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania, among others.

Secretaries of state in five states have urged Musk to “immediately implement changes” to his chatbot, but Musk hasn’t done so.

In the last few days, Musk has also reposted a faked version of Kamala Harris’s first campaign video with an altered voice track sounding like Harris and saying she doesn’t “know the first thing about running the country” and is the “ultimate diversity hire.” Musk tagged the video “amazing.” It’s got 135 million views, so far. It’s still up.

The website of Musk’s America PAC is tricking people into sharing personal data. Although the site promises to help them register to vote, it asks users in battleground states to give their names and phone numbers without directing them to a voter registration site. That personal information is being used to send them anti-Harris and pro-Trump ads.

Musk has also promised $45 million of cash per month to pro-Trump PACs.

Meanwhile, in the UK, far right thugs are burning, looting and terrorizing minority communities because Musks’s X has been spreading lies about an immigrant being responsible for a deadly attack on school girls. Musk has not only allowed instigators of this hate spread these lies, but he’s re-tweeting and supporting them.

What to do about Musk? In the past, I’ve suggested a boycott of Tesla.

I’ve also urged advertisers to boycott X.

But now that a coalition of major advertisers has organized such a boycott, Musk is suing them under antitrust law. “We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war,” he wrote on X earlier this week, referring to advertisers who criticize him and X.

What’s the next step? Regulators around the world must stand up to the rise in hate speech and disinformation on X, and put Musk out of business.

While I despise Donald Trump and do see him as a global threat, Trump is a nasty ‘man’, but also a stupid one, a puppet whose strings are being pulled by others and who, left to his own devices, would stumble over his own feet on the way to the bathroom.  Musk, however, is an intellectual who is quite capable of planning the most devious of plots.  I agree with Robert Reich … he MUST be stopped.

Musk Unleashed …

Posted on by under Election 2024, Free Press Issues, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary, technology, voting rights

The name … Elon Musk … brings a growl deep in my throat.  He is a ‘man’ without a conscience, which should be obvious given his net worth of $226.9 billion.  Nobody with a conscience amasses that kind of money when there are children starving to death and people living in cardboard boxes all around the globe.  NOBODY!  Musk values a dollar far more than he values a life.  When he took over Twitter, I left the platform, closed out my account, took my words and went elsewhere.  It’s a decision I have never once regretted.  But today, Elon, the master of hypocrisy, is doing something very dangerous to us all … he is using Twitter, which he owns, to promote outright lies pertaining to November’s election and … if you’re still on Twitter, he is using your personal information to interfere with the upcoming election.

Dan Rather tells the story …

Who’s Minding Musk?

Nobody, and that’s a problem

By Dan Rather

05 August 2024

Imagine having the ability to instantly lob information, true or not, to millions of people across the globe. Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly known as Twitter), has that ability. One would hope that with that power would come responsibility. In a perfect world, the owners of social media companies would be fair-minded and objective. Alas.

For all the talk of social media reform after 2016 and the Facebook fiasco when misinformation ran rampant across that platform, it now appears that Musk has decided not only to support the Republican candidate for president but to personally help spread misinformation about voting and the election.

Plus, in 2024, Musk has more powerful tools than Facebook ever imagined eight years ago. Artificial intelligence is coming into its own, and the dangers it presents to our democracy are profound.

Musk has recently released an AI chatbot, which, if you don’t know, is basically a computer that can simulate a human conversation. Musk named his Grok, and within hours of President Biden bowing out of the race, it created a post that read: “The ballot deadline has passed for several states for the 2024 election,” naming nine states: Alabama, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington. The message suggested that Kamala Harris had missed the filing deadline to get on the ballot in those states.

This is 100% false and was shared with millions of users on X.

Secretaries of state in five of the nine states have written a letter to Musk urging him to “immediately implement changes” to Grok. I’m not holding my breath.

When Grok was launched late last year, Musk called it the anti-“woke” chatbot — his characterization. He said he wanted the AI search assistant to “answer spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems.” Those other AI systems, powered by OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, are specifically designed to avoid controversial topics.

But it’s not just Grok that is pushing out lies. Musk himself reposted a manipulated version of Harris’s first campaign video. It featured an altered voice track that sounds just like Harris. In it “she” says she didn’t “know the first thing about running the country” and that she is the “ultimate diversity hire.” Musk tagged the video as “amazing” and didn’t include a disclaimer. His post has garnered 135 million views, so far. It has not been taken down.

Talk about strange bedfellows. Over the years, there has been no love lost between Musk and Donald Trump. As recently as May, Trump was a vociferous and vocal proponent of the oil and gas industry. Remember the Mar-a-Lago get-together where he promised to end Biden’s green energy initiatives, including his electric vehicle policies, in exchange for $1 billion in campaign contributions?

Apparently Musk and Trump have mended some pretty tall fences. For his part, Musk has promised lots of cash to the pro-Trump America PAC. Maybe Trump didn’t get what he asked for from his oil and gas friends.

In exchange, Trump now thinks electric vehicles are “incredible.” What a shocker. At a rally in Georgia on Sunday, Trump told his supporters, “I’m for electric cars. I have to be because, you know, Elon endorsed me very strongly. So, I have no choice.”

The Musk-backed America PAC is already helping Trump in swing states. The PAC’s website is tricking people into sharing personal data. The site promises to help people register to vote, but when a user enters a zip code in a battleground state, after also giving their name and phone number, they are directed to a page that says “thank you.” They are then asked to “complete the form below.” But there is no form. And there is no redirection to a voter registration site.

The Michigan secretary of state is investigating Musk and the PAC. “Every citizen should know exactly how their personal information is being used by PACs, especially if an entity is claiming it will help people register to vote in Michigan or any other state,” a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office said.

In 2022, President Barack Obama gave a speech at Stanford University about the dangers of artificial intelligence, foreseeing that “regulation has to be part of the answer” to combating online disinformation. His closing thought is a reminder that AI can be a help as well as a hindrance — but that it can’t exist in a vacuum.

“The internet is a tool. Social media is a tool. At the end of the day, tools don’t control us. We control them. And we can remake them. It’s up to each of us to decide what we value and then use the tools we’ve been given to advance those values,” Obama said.

For all intents and purposes, social media has become our town square — but unlike most communities, it has no sheriff, and it very much needs one. In his or her absence it is up to us, social media’s users, to be wary consumers.

Snarky Snippets — Or Mini Rants?

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, Election 2024, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary

One hour … well, just over an hour, say maybe 65 minutes.  That’s how long it took before I dropped the first f-bomb of the day.  Used to be I despised that word and never used it, now it’s a part of my everyday vocabulary – thank you, Republicans.  It probably would have been less than an hour, but the first hour of the day is spent showering, feeding critters, making coffee, starting laundry, and watering flowers, so it’s usually about an hour before I boot up the computer to check the news of the day.  First thing I saw today was some inane comment by Margie Greene that made me growl, then another by Kari Lake that drew the f-bomb.  Sigh.  So much utter ignorance in this country today.  So, I have just a few of my infamous ‘snarky snippets’ for your afternoon entertainment …

Elon Musk promised Donald Trump a series of sizable contributions to his campaign in exchange for his selection of J.D. Vance as his running mate.  Trump selected J.D. and Elon is keeping his promise, pledging to donate $45 million per month to Trump’s campaign.  Let me say that number again, in case I stuttered the first time … $45 million!  That’s $180 million for the four-month period between now and election day.  I would like to ask both Mr. Musk and Mr. Trump how many children do they think that would feed for, oh, say a year, with $180 million?  And how many children will die in the next 365 days because of either malnutrition or because they couldn’t access necessary healthcare?  This, to me, is obscene and should in no way be acceptable, should not even be allowed under campaign finance rules!  SHAME on you, Elon Musk … and on YOU, Donald Trump!

The most recent ‘trusted’ Democrats to try to talk President Biden into stepping down from his 2024 re-election campaign are Adam Schiff, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and Nancy Pelosi. Even former President Obama is backing off in his support of Biden remaining in the race.  I’m sure their intentions are … um … noble, but they are stabbing not only the president in the back, but We the People as well and I, for one, do not appreciate it one bit.  On the day that President Biden tested positive for Covid and was experiencing symptoms, albeit mild, those four most trusted advisors turned on him.  Quite frankly, if I were Joe Biden, I would tell them, “Fine, take this job and SHOVE IT WHERE THE SUN DON’T SHINE!”  Then I would go home to Delaware with my wife and dog, and let Kamala Harris be the star of the show.  If Donald Trump wins in November, the blood of the nation will be on the hands of the Democrats who refused, even for the sake of the future of this nation, to unify behind the most qualified, capable, experienced candidate.

The Russians are doing a happy dance today, after learning of Trump’s choice of a running mate.  Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov applauded the decision, saying of Vance, “He’s in favor of peace, he’s in favor of ending the assistance that’s being provided and we can only welcome that because that’s what we need – to stop pumping Ukraine full of weapons and then the war will end.”  Vance has said that he doesn’t care what happens to Ukraine and he is against the U.S. providing any aid to Ukraine.  I might remind you that Ukraine is a U.S. ally, while Russia is an adversary to the U.S.  Oh, but wait, I keep forgetting that Donald Trump is a Russian puppet sitting on the knee of Vladimir Putin, and now so is J.D. Vance.  Of course, the Russians are dancing today!  I think we should show pictures of all the dead Ukrainian children on the news every single night and in the lower corner of the images a picture of J.D. Vance applauding.

Have a nice rest-of-the-day.

Ol’ Snarky Is Back!

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

I’m not sure why, but I feel a bit snarky tonight, and fortunately I am not lacking material on which to direct my snark!

Well, on Monday Donald Trump’s election interference trial began, despite Trump’s numerous attempts to delay the process.  Predictably, selecting a jury is tedious and time-consuming.  If you think about it, who among us hasn’t formed a strong opinion, pro or con, about Donald Trump?  As Alexandra Petri humorously said of those who would claim to have no preconceived views of Donald Trump …

“Have you been living in a hole for the past 20 years? For the past 50 years? Tell us more about the hole in which you have resided. What are the dimensions of the hole? Is it comfortable? Do you get Netflix? Can we join you there?”

As of the close of court yesterday, 7 jurors had been selected, which under the circumstances is pretty good, I think.  I am very pleased by Judge Merchan who is putting up with absolutely no nonsense from Trump and his attorneys.  I have no predictions about when the actual trial phase will start, but hopefully within the next two weeks.  Meanwhile, on both Monday and Tuesday it was reported that Trump dozed off while prospective jurors were being interviewed.  I love what Rachel Maddow said …

“The wheels of justice grind slowly. I did not think they would grind so slowly that they would rock the defendant apparently to sleep.”

In other news, the House of Do-Nothing Representatives sent their articles of impeachment against Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, to the Senate hoping for a trial that they could turn into a three-ring circus, for they love to get attention, y’know.  The impeachment was filed by none other than the brainless Margie Greene in November 2023 and has been wasting the time of legislators ever since.  Not that they would likely do any work otherwise, but still.  I can’t help but wonder just how much taxpayer money was spent on this sham impeachment?

What I want to know is how many person-hours went into the shit show of Mayorkas’ impeachment?  At a minimum of $83.65 per person-hour for members of the House, how much did this childish, vengeful clown show cost the U.S. taxpayer?  The good news is that once the House presented the two articles of impeachment to the Senate, their hopes for a trial that they could turn into a circus were dashed.  It didn’t take long for the Senate to put the issue to bed by pointing out that both articles are unconstitutional and there will be no trial.  Several Republicans tried to keep the impeachment on life support until later this year or after the November election, but they failed.

Senator John Thune of South Dakota had the unmitigated gall to say, “The Mayorkas-Biden policies have led to the worst border crisis in U.S. history.”  ‘Scuse me, Mr. Thune, but Congress had the opportunity to pass a very good bipartisan bill that would have helped with border security, but the House Republicans killed it on Donald Trump’s orders.  Point your finger of blame where it needs to be pointed.

I’m sure we’ll hear them whine for the next week or so, but hopefully this is the end of that fiasco.

And then there’s ol’ Elon Muck Musk, CEO of electric car maker Tesla, who is fighting to retain his salary of … wait for it … $56 billion!  Earlier this year, a Delaware judge ruled that, “The process leading to the approval of Musk’s compensation plan was deeply flawed.”  The ruling comes as a result of a lawsuit filed five years ago by shareholders of Tesla.  Musk, naturally, is infuriated, saying he’s going to move Tesla from Delaware to Texas.

Even though Mr. Musk is ranked the 2nd richest person in the world by Forbes, with a net worth of $187.3 billion, it does appear that he is living in poverty … just look at that face … he cannot even afford a good razor … or a barber!

What A Waste!

Posted on by under Economic issues, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, History, Political commentary, Re-blogs, technology

Yesterday another SpaceX rocket blew up or fell apart somewhere up there above Planet Earth.  Nobody seems to get too upset about these things and the ‘mission’ was hailed as a ‘success’ despite the rocket failing to return to earth.  I remember as a child being excited by the space program, thrilled to watch on television as John Glenn successfully orbited the earth for the first time, but I am an adult now and what I see when I read about the latest launch is money being thrown away while people down here on our home, Planet Earth, are starving and living in dire poverty all around the globe.  I would far rather see  the tens of billions of dollars that NASA and Elon Musk are wasting being spent taking on the challenges of world hunger than Mars!  Our friend Nan has a good assessment of the latest fiasco and shares her views, which largely align with my own.  Thank you, Nan!

Up, Up, and Away!

First Of February Rants …

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, Election 2024, Environmental Issues, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary

I don’t know about you folks, but today is the first of February, one month into this election year with 278 days until the election that has everyone on pins and needles … and I’m already sick of it all.  The news isn’t about the war in Ukraine or the war between Israel & Hamas, or about the very obvious effects of climate change we’ve been warned about for years, or about the humanitarian crisis on our southern border … the news is about the fight between Democrats and Republicans, and all of the aforementioned issues somehow devolve into being right vs left issues.  If ever I wanted a year to be over and done with, this is it.  If ever I considered living a cloistered life in a nunnery somewhere in the Himalayas, this is it.  I alternate between wanting to scream 😱, throw up 🤮, cry 😢, or sleep 😴 until it’s all over!

The result is a combination of uber-snarkiness and mind bounce, so I shall have just a few snippets for you this morning, then I am going to bed to sleep a hopefully dreamless sleep for four hours or so!

If I hear one more person claim that the United States is the “greatest country on earth” I am going to punch them.  I’ll even gladly pay for them to get their teeth put back into their mouth … it would be worth it.  No, friends, the U.S. is far from being the greatest country on earth.  One factual example (I like facts to back up my ideas, don’t you?) …

The United States has approximately 339 million people which accounts for some 4.23% of the world’s population.  Yet, as of January 31st, we account for 17.12% of the deaths from Covid.  That’s right … the U.S. has had 1,194,100 deaths from Covid since the beginning of 2020, compared to the total global deaths of 6,975,205 … 17.12%!  Why?  Um … one word … ignorance.  Well, maybe a few words:  ignorance, Republicans, stubbornness, Republicans.  Refusal to wear a mask, conspiracy theories surrounding the Covid vaccines, and people too damn ignorant and lazy to do the research, to figure out the reality, to protect themselves and their families.  Bah Humbug.

By comparison, India, the world’s most populous nation, has had less than half the number of deaths from Covid than the U.S.  India’s population is 1,428,627,663 – 17.76% of the total world’s population – and they have had only 533,447 deaths, or 7.65% of the worldwide deaths.

Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift … she’s in the news almost as much as he-who-shall-not-be-named (hint, he wears bronzing makeup on his aged face and the hide of an animal on his head, and has an ego the size of the African continent)!  Taylor Swift is a singer who happens to be dating a football player.  She is, from what I understand, a young woman of conscience, a philanthropist of sorts, and has encouraged people to register and vote.  Nothing to see here, folks, move along.  But the conspiracy theory crowd … OH MY!  Failed once-presidential-candidate for a day, Vivek Ramaswamy thinks there is some connection between her, who will win the Super Bowl, and who will win the presidential race.  Others seem to think she is somehow connected to the Pentagon.  And Sean Hannity of Fox so-called-News has “warned” her against supporting President Biden in the upcoming election.  Somebody please slap that smirk off of Hannity’s arrogant countenance?  Leave poor Taylor Swift alone, for Pete’s sake!

Admittedly, I am not well-versed in how these things work and do not understand the fine details, but one term dropped my jaw and made me sit up straight, for I was choking on my coffee.  Elon Musk’s pay package from Tesla in 2018 has been struck down by the courts … his pay package of … wait for it … $56 billion!  That’s billion with a ‘b’!  BILLION!  56 BILLION!!  Who the f*ck needs that kind of money???  Does he even realize that there are people tonight … right now, as I write this … who are begging for $2 to buy a bit of food to keep them alive?  Does he realize, or even care that some children went to bed hungry tonight because there was no food in the house for them to eat?  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr …

Last, but not least, I urge you to hop over to Nan’s blog and see what one of the Republican representatives in her state has said … guaranteed to blow your mind!

WHAT???? More ‘Toons???

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Economic issues, Election 2024, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry

Seems like only yesterday that I posted a batch of political cartoons, and already my file is bulging at the seams again!  Do these cartoonists never sleep???  Just so much for them to work with … Elon, Donald and Alex alone would be enough to keep ’em busy, but then throw in Ken Paxton, Jim (Gym) Jordan, the threat to rob women of their rights, and you’ve got cartoonists burning the midnight oil just trying to keep up with it all!  Let’s see what they’ve got for us …

Snippety Snarkety … Here We Go Again!

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, education, Humour, Political commentary, Random, Social commentary

Some days I just wake up with a really snarky attitude, y’know?  Not the mean kind, just the kind of snark where everything makes you roll your eyes as you realize that some people really are “that kind of stupid.”  On that note, I have just a few thoughts for the day!

Tweedle-Dee & Tweedle-Dum

Ol’ Kevin McCarthy announced that he is leaving Congress at the end of the year, which for them is effectively tomorrow, since they’ll be leaving for their Christmas/New Year break and won’t return until next year.  So what, you must be wondering, will McCarthy do???  How will he pay his bills and put food on the table?  With a net worth of only around $300,000 he is definitely not among the wealthiest in Congress!

Well … ol’ Kev has aspirations of working with someone who is among the richest men on earth, Elon Musk, the man who single-handedly destroyed Twitter.  He was a bit vague about the role he hopes to play, saying only that he’s interested in Artificial Intelligence … oh the jokes I could make here, but I’ll bite my tongue on this one … and that he’s been friends with Musk for about a decade.  He said he also plans to “hit the paid speaking circuit hard”, to write a memoir, and to “continue helping House Republicans with fundraisers and advice”.  Would anybody actually read a memoir written by him?  🙄

Buh-bye Kev … don’t let the door hit you in the arse on the way out!

And speaking of Tweedle-Dum …

Who knew that Elon Musk even had a mommy?  Well, apparently he does and his mommy is not happy!  Y’see, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) opted not to give Musk’s Starlink nearly $900 million in government subsidies.  Now … Musk is a multi-billioinaire with a current net worth of $243.1 billion … so why does he need our hard-earned tax dollars anyway???  But here’s what his mummy, Maye Musk, posted on Twitter …

I am the mother of @elonmusk.  His goal is to make this world a better place. @POTUS wants to stop him. Have you any idea how furious I am? People in other countries are proud of Elon and do not understand the US President’s motive. Please tell me how I should answer them.

Wait!  Did she say his goal is to “make this world a better place???  Could’a fooled me!!!  Sorry, folks, but I cannot find so much as a shred of sympathy for Elon or his mum!  Save your sympathy for all the people he’s put out of work, for all those he’s stepped on throughout the years, and for the environment that he has done more than his share to damage.

Got milk???

Only one more day until Congress heads home for their holiday break and so much work left to be done!  There’s the emergency aid bill to assist Ukraine and Israel, there are appropriations bills to keep the government up and running past January 19th, and dozens of other important pieces of legislation to deal with.  So, what are they dealing with?  Is there a mad crunch, burning the midnight oil, to get the actual work done?  Oh c’mon, folks … surely you jest!

No, in addition to agreeing to the “official” impeachment inquiry for which they have absolutely no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of the president, they are spending their time discussing the ‘merits’ of full-fat milk vs low-fat or skim milk for school children.  🙄  No, I’m not joking!!!  Said Representative Lloyd K. Smucker, Republican of Pennsylvania …

“I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan, bicameral and utterly fantastic bill.  And let’s not skim over the facts here: Whole milk is truly the cream of the crop in delivering these key vitamins and nutrients to growing children.”

Sorry Mr. Schmucker … I’ll believe the scientists and nutritionists on this one.  And frankly, this is NOT what we are paying you to do!!!  Obesity is already a big problem in this country, so keep your dirty fingers out of our kids’ school cafeterias, please and go pass some spending bills so we don’t have to bite our fingernails next month, wondering whether our government will be open for business!

And on that note, I have to make a quick trip to the Kroger up the street to pick up my weekly grocery order, so I’ll save the rest of my snarkiness for another day!

Curiouser and Curiouser — By Bob Shepherd

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Economic issues, education, Election 2024, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs, Social commentary

We usually focus on one issue or another in a post or in conversation, so we don’t realize the full extent of the crazy world we’re living in!  Bob Shepherd gives us the big picture without delving into any single issue and it’s enough to make your head spin when you see it all in one place!  Thank you, Bob, for helping us step back and see just how topsy-turvy our world is today!

Curiouser and Curiouser

Elon … A Genius? 🤣🤣🤣 I Think NOT!

Posted on by under animals, Free Press Issues, Humour, Racism & Bigotry, Re-blogs

I was actually working on a few different topics tonight when I realized that I am both physically and mentally exhausted and should leave the heaving lifting to someone else for now.  And thus I am sharing with you our friend Annie’s timely post about Elon Musk and his apparent ignorance of how businesses stay afloat.  But there’s an added bonus here, for Annie concludes with some really great short animal video clips from Twitter, so you get a double laugh … laugh at Elon’s utter stupidity, then at the creativity of some adorable furry critters!  Thank you, Annie! 

After Elon Musk Earns an “F” in Advertising, We Move to Some Furry/Feathery Fun…