Both Elon and Donald are malignant narcissists they both believe their money makes them above the law and untouchable I’m so here for them both to find out differently
These are the type of men my daughter and her friends are trying to stay away from because of their toxic masculinity. Of course Musk has now amplified Trump, but is being in the spotlight helping Trump? I read today that he asked a right wing teen influencer that is supposedly his son Barron's best friend to help with his campaign to get Gen Z boys. I think even Trump knows that he does not have a prayer in HE-- with Gen Z girls. Whereas Kamala is running the umbrella campaign. There are even Evangelical Christians for Kamala.
Also, I agree that this is ultimately not a good business model. However, getting a 46 billion dollar pay package must make Musk pretty cocky. I am wondering if his board thinks that keeping him on will be good for the brand. At least one business does not want to buy Teslas anymore. That is Rossmann owner of the second largest drug store chain in Germany. He says he will not buy them anymore because Musk is supporting Trump.
Sixt is a car rental company. These two German brothers own one of the largest car rental companies in the world which is also worth billions. SAP is a German multinational software company, also a multibillion € company. So, some of the billionaires in Germany do not seem to want the billionaires in the USA to buy the US election because they don't want Trump.
Sixt (and US-based Hertz) are dropping Tesla not so much for political reasons, but because people just don't want to rent them. Apparently, the idea of spending hours at a charging station before returning the rental for an early-morning flight does not appeal to everybody.
There were other economic reasons (dramatic loss of resale value, high repair bills). I won't rule out that politics made the decision easy, but it probably wasn't the major factor.
The only other car rental that had Teslas, albeit in small numbers, was Enterprise in their luxury division, and last I checked, they also seem to have quietly removed them from their inventory. That was before Musk went openly right-wing, though.
I have only one thing to say about Musk. A person this unstable and drawing multiple lawsuits should not be a preferred customer of the US Government. He should be forced to sell his controlling shares in Space X, or they should lose all their Government contracts.
Trump has brought forward one common trait of narcissists that's not in the DSM, but in my experience is universal. It's summed up in Rick Wilson's observation that "everything Trump touches dies." Everyone and everything that interacts with a narcissist will be worse off for the encounter. They will suck out the marrow, and leave it stripped, exhausted, and broken. They seize what they need, destroy the rest, and move on.
Musk is now exhibiting that trait as well, destroying his own companies to feed his bottomless hunger and rage. And now he's teamed up with Trump to ravage our democracy for their own mutual aggrandizement. This cannot end well.
I don't know why anyone's on Twitter any more. (If you're still there, it's past time to leave. I bailed when Musk bought it, and haven't looked back.) My Tesla will be gone by the end of the year. (The company's lies started the first week I bought it in 2020, and haven't stopped.) There's nothing this man does that doesn't cheat the people who do business with him. For all of our own sakes, we need to keep ourselves, our money, our minds, and our nation out of this narcissist's hands.
I decided once I found about about Elon when he was trying to get Twitter, Never to buy a Tesla, because he was involved in it. That business of everything trump touches dies, keeps me of thinking about that being from outer space, The destroyer of Worlds...I left twitter a year or two ago.Never looked back
Threads works for me. The only time I’m on Twitter is Saturday for Jay’s funny posts. I wish they linked to Threads instead but Jay knows what he’s doing.
I dumped twitter after Mush made his outrageous comment about the attack on Paul Pelosi. I have a fake account because sometimes it’s the only way to follow a story, but I never give any likes or comments.
Imagine a solar flare - like the one that got the Earth back in the nineteenth century - hitting the Earth now. Scientists have said that such a flare is likely to hit within in our lifetimes and it could wipe out much our technological infrastructure for decades including the Web/Internet, streaming services, satellite services, and much more. They've said a flare like that could send us back to the early twentieth century or late nineteenth century for decades. That would wipeout our economy and much of the industrialized world's economy in one major blast; non-industrialized countries would fare much better and might thrive under such circumstances.
Had to laugh at "My Tesla will be gone by the end of the year." Fool me once? Twice? Thrice? And still hanging on til end of year? I marvel at your principles!
Practicalities: if the election goes sideways, I'm leaving the country (seriously: the lawyer and the paperwork are already in progress). It would be stupid to commit to a new vehicle in the US when I may be buying one abroad come January.
It is kind of remarkable how people like Trump and Elmo somehow manage to think that if you say something in public it CAN’T be held against you in a civil or criminal case. I mean, I guess recent history shows they’re right in practice, but it’s a remarkably stupid thing to actually believe.
And I’m sure we’ll be treated to the “I wasn’t threatening workers; I was just saying illegally firing workers is awesome and I also happen to be running for president.” It’s par for the course for the “We don’t want to oppress Black people; we just talk constantly about how this country was awesome when it did oppress Black people” party.
Well there is proof of the oppression of Black people. 1619 was when folks even those of African descent were indentured servants. but later on in the mid 1660's there was the beginning of chattel slavery one man was made a slave for life in Virginia. then gradually over time laws were made to oppress the enslaved, you can Google it. this gradual thing made it necessary to have the Civil War to end it. and it still continued. because people felt entitled to oppress people of African decent. so this is not recent.. it has been ongoing
Look up miscegenation laws, when the house of Burgesses let white men off the hook for having to take finanicial care of their illegitimate kids (only the black ones), when was it that the race of the mother determined the status of the child from birth, it began in Virginia and then the other states colonies copied these things.. Loving vs Virginia was the end of miscegenation. and one man a white poor one was caught being in love with a Black woman after that law and was beaten in public..
In researching one of my ancestors a prominent man in Virginia some years ago in 2011, I began to be guided to google these things that I had no idea existed. But it made me see what people who broke these laws could have risked to love another person of a different ethnicity.
I wonder if people like Musk, Trump, and Rowling who go after trans people are themselves insecure about their own sexuality or gender. Why else would it matter so much to them?
Narcissism is a very primitive personality construct - toddler-age-ish. How well can a toddler tolerate ambiguity, nuance, anything that is "non-binary" - not well! It's all either/or, good/bad, dark/light, etc. These narcissists fancy themselves as brilliant and when they cannot comprehend shades or degrees of distinction, they lash out. I think the transphobics are a bit different from the gay-phobics, the latter group having been studied and often found to react strongly with arousal to homoerotic imagery ... "repressed" or "latent" gayness ... And one can be gay but be transphobic, or vice versa. Trans stuff is more about gender and how upsetting people seem to be when they can't "tell" if someone is male or female - or heaven-forfend, "non-binary" - Homophobia is more about "sex." Grossly oversimplifying but something to think about. ☮️
“If you don’t like gay sex, don’t have any.” This was a saying in the mid-80’s at least. That message seems to have spread through lots (but not nearly enough) people. It would be a good thing if the same concept were brought to transsexuality. If you don’t like it, don’t do it. Don’t like thinking about it? Think about how you might be able to plant 2 more roses in your yard. Or bake a peach cobbler.
Why trans? Short answer: convenience. Long answer...
Humans are social animals. We can't survive alone without external support (look up Alexander Selkirk or watch any episode of "Alone"). We hunt, gather, farm and everything else in groups. Millions of years of biological evolution and millennia of social evolution inclines us to defend a territory for food and protection (consider chimpanzees and meerkats). Much of recent social evolution has been to widen our in-group (tribe) to include more of what used to be outsiders. A century ago we in the US had lots of derogatory words for people based on national origin (mick, wop, polak, etc). These are gone now; outsiders became insiders. More recently we've made some progress bringing Blacks and gays in; that's been harder.
There are many casual haters. They hate some type of other because they were raised that way or they join in with some group (co-workers, fellow students) to become part of the tribe. Rarely, they escalate to actual violence (assault, murder, mass murder).
Then there are the hate mongers. They use hate to gather a tribe about themselves to gain power, money, and fame. The target of their hatred may be some group they truly hate or it may be some convenient target that they judge to be best to incite their followers. Trump, Musk, Rowling, Westboro Baptist Church, many mega-church leaders, and nearly all Republican politicians are hate mongers.
For years, Blacks along with gays were primary hate monger targets. Blacks have become too politically important to be primary targets. Gays gained some status but have fallen back recently. The problem is that there are too many Black people and out gay people around. A hate monger risks turning people away that admire a Black athlete or have a gay cousin.
Trans people are a perfect hate target. There are very few trans people, and unlike Blacks or Irish, there won't be many more trans people than the current small percentage. So, to the vast majority of the country, trans people are truly "other"; hence, a perfect target.
Hate mongers are the worst of the worst. Fascism is built on hate. If I could lock them all up forever, I'd happily do it.
I read before that the rightwing Christians lost their fight against the LGTBQ+ community because it became accepted by so many. They needed a new target to polarize people and they found it in the most vulnerable trans community. I wished we all could see them like many native cultures see them. Some call them "two-spirit" and they revere them for the special insight they have.
I admit I am completely unfamiliar with her posts other than what I see others write about. Also glad I never read or saw any Harry Potter books or films, wasn’t on purpose, just had zero interest!
It does begin to seem clear that too much money can truly rot the soul. Musk has no core. Trump is lost. Both men suffer from the delusion that they are above the common person.
I hear you, but I believe these two would be just as terrible if they weren't wealthy. There are other wealthy people (Dolly Parton and Taylor Swift) who have used their wealth for good.
I find it interesting that the billionaire-philanthropist class appears to be all women: Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift and Melinda French Gates... at least, as far as I'm aware. Girl Power!
Please don't make this about gender when there is no correlation. All that is doing is turn people off from legitimate women's-rights causes.
There are generous people in both (and probably all other) genders, as well as horrible people in both.
To wit: Bill Gates. And Warren Buffet. And Conrad Prebys. And Doug Shiley. And I see your Taylor Swift and raise you a Paul McCartney.
And the reverse for women. Leona Helmsley of "We don't pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes" infamy comes to mind. Martha Stewart. Gislane Maxwell (and of course Jeffrey Epstein for a horrible man!)
And suddenly, both Parton and Swift are enemies to the right wing. How sad is that? I have someone on a facebook thread arguing that the IRS investment that let them recapture short remittances from millionaires and companies "hurts the lower earner". People really are deluded.
What kind of tortured logic could they possibly use to back up such an absurd statement? Or did they just hear it on Fox and are too lazy to question it?
It looks like they (and many others similarly situated) believe that the size of one’s bank accounts (and yes, crowd or viewership sizes) equate to a form of entitled intelligence, and by extension *deserved* power. This cannot end well for either of these evil blowhards — and I’m doing everything possible to help their demise happen. The quicker the better for the sake of our nation 🇺🇸
Taxing the rich is a good start. Dedicated action to break up monopolies and near-monopolies would also go a long way toward making ours a more egalitarian society, along with the continued rise of labor unions. I hope I live long enough to see some real progress there.
You forgot the environmental and health laws he has been breaking. For contaminated water down at his Texas SpaceX location, and also the death of a worker at his Austin plant. He ignores regulatory requirements frequently and so far without any enforcement.
"And all of it is due to his ill-advised foray into politics, his gigantic ego and his BIG, STUPID MOUTH" (caps mine). OMG! I spit out my coffee! This might be the greatest thing you've ever said!
Why doesn't the E.U. just block X at this point? The posting on and moderation of X has to be consistently in violation of their human rights and decency laws. They're at least a third of the userbase. Shut it down!
Blocking X would be very, very difficult. Even China has problems with blocking sites.
But what the EU could very well do is ban Twitter from doing business in the EU. Meaning, they can't sell advertisements to European companies. Can't have offices within the EU. Can't have servers within the EU.
Then you also have to ban international VPNs, Tor, and with smaller sites you would also run into the issue that blocking them you would also cause tremendous collateral damage of sites that happen to be on the same IP addresses.
All too often, the pursuit of and possession of great wealth is almost a disease. Rowling's at least, is the result of her indisputable creativity. Musk's is just the result of dynastic wealth. It will take a concerted effort on the part of reasonable governments to reign in the distortions of society that individual possession of media produces. I can only hope Tesla stock owners are reconsidering having a megalomaniac as their CEO.
I believe Rowling, like Musk, is a product of algorithmic red-pilling, where all they see within their siloes on social media are increasingly extreme positions that will elicit ever more engagement from them. They are lost because of it.
I was on a live feed with 200K+ attendees (as best I recall), White Dudes for Kamala, and it functioned great for 3.5 hours. Musk is a dumb tool. He resembles TFG in that he really thinks he IS the stable genius and can get rid of all the troublesome experts and journeymen(-women) keeping the tech running. Such ignorant arrogance. These rich guys are disconnected from reality so far they have no experience what keeps things running. They expect things to just work for them without any annoying need to support the workers, tech people, the actual skilled people. This is being power-man, power-corrupt, delusional. I look forward to protests that are directed at these guys, right at them. They are definitive samsaric hungry ghosts and every move they make increases suffering for all.
Unfortunately, Musk has been a naturalized citizen of the US since 2002. However, his citizenship should be revoked and his assets should be seized, as he is a clear and present danger to our democracy!
Don't hold your breath if Trump comes in he might just make him his heir. He wouldn't give a damn about the constitution. Remember immunity for official acts.
Even if his citizenship was revoked (and there might be a legal reason for that, although it's a stretch), that doesn't lead to asset seizure; that would be a fourth-Amendment violation.
Musk has been hailed as an innovator and inventor. The reality is, Musk has not done much real inventing or innovation. Tesla automobiles were NOT invented by Musk. He bought out the company that was making electric cars, to turn it into Tesla. Musk is actually a corporate raider. He is without morals or integrity. Musk is an example of capitalist gone bad. Both Musk and Trump are a stain on the species called Homo sapiens.
I hate to defend Musk, but you got one thing wrong. While he didn't start Tesla nor developed the technology, he really did put the company on the map. Without Musk and his PayPal-billions, Tesla would have ended up, best case, like Fisker. Or worst case, like Aptera.
Bottom line, my original comment still stands. He isn’t really much more than a corporate raider. He became rich and famous by profiting off the work of other people. I give him zero credit, because he is unethical in his methods.
If memory serves me, On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan began firing 11,359 air traffic controllers for striking in violation of his order for them to return to work. More about the story here.
While it is true that Reagan broke the union, they were on strike and massively impacted the whole country. Reagan’s actions were warranted and a new union was formed. Trump and Musk don’t want to allow any unions.
After their “News Conference (sic),” I think musk should speed up his quest for life on Mars and around Labor Day (since neither man understands the concept behind the holiday) launch a two-man Space X space station to land on Mars and test out life there for a few decades. elon as Captain and donald as Co-Pilot. Let the countdown begin!
And twenty-five years from now get a rude surprise along the lines of "The Wrath of Khan"? Nah...keep them both down here and let them finish out their lives in jail where they belong and we can keep our eyes on their doings.
Yeah, it's obscure. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's a hilarious sci-fi spoof. The two main characters, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, end up on a spaceship that carried a couple million frozen residents of a planet, doomed due to overpopulation. People on that planet had intended to evacuate their planet in three phases, workers, middle class, and leaders. They started with middle class people because they deemed them less essential. Middle class people, such as telephone sanitizers. In the end, the other two groups never left their planet because it wasn't overpopulated any more. There is a punchline to that story that I won't reveal in case you want to read it.
Well I do now! That was one of the things in the rabbit hole, but it didn't get specific enough for the telephone sanitizer ref. THAT caught my eye because I spent my career at a telecom (we didn't have sanitizers).
Both Elon and Donald are malignant narcissists they both believe their money makes them above the law and untouchable I’m so here for them both to find out differently
Agree with you.
It wasn't an interview. It was an online campaign rally hosted by Elon Musk. The Trump campaign PAID for that "interview".
Trump /Musk "Interview":
Two billionaires thrilled that they can bullsh*t a dumb public.
They laughted at firing workers at will.
They hate you.
They make fun of you.
They have no respect for you.
I can't wait until Trump loses in November because after that it is over for him. He won't make it to another 4 years to run again.
That's why this "VOTE removes stubborn orange stains" shirt is so accurate 👇 🤣
libtees-2.creator-spring.com/listing/vote24
Can't wait to vote for our FIRST woman president.
These are the type of men my daughter and her friends are trying to stay away from because of their toxic masculinity. Of course Musk has now amplified Trump, but is being in the spotlight helping Trump? I read today that he asked a right wing teen influencer that is supposedly his son Barron's best friend to help with his campaign to get Gen Z boys. I think even Trump knows that he does not have a prayer in HE-- with Gen Z girls. Whereas Kamala is running the umbrella campaign. There are even Evangelical Christians for Kamala.
I love this article because I had been hearing about Republicans for Harris and Mormons for Harris, but now this. https://charlotteclymer.substack.com/p/wait-evangelicals-for-harris
Also, I agree that this is ultimately not a good business model. However, getting a 46 billion dollar pay package must make Musk pretty cocky. I am wondering if his board thinks that keeping him on will be good for the brand. At least one business does not want to buy Teslas anymore. That is Rossmann owner of the second largest drug store chain in Germany. He says he will not buy them anymore because Musk is supporting Trump.
https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/rossmann-drugstores-stop-buying-teslas-over-musks-trump-support
Sixt is a car rental company. These two German brothers own one of the largest car rental companies in the world which is also worth billions. SAP is a German multinational software company, also a multibillion € company. So, some of the billionaires in Germany do not seem to want the billionaires in the USA to buy the US election because they don't want Trump.
Sixt (and US-based Hertz) are dropping Tesla not so much for political reasons, but because people just don't want to rent them. Apparently, the idea of spending hours at a charging station before returning the rental for an early-morning flight does not appeal to everybody.
There were other economic reasons (dramatic loss of resale value, high repair bills). I won't rule out that politics made the decision easy, but it probably wasn't the major factor.
The only other car rental that had Teslas, albeit in small numbers, was Enterprise in their luxury division, and last I checked, they also seem to have quietly removed them from their inventory. That was before Musk went openly right-wing, though.
That might be true of Sixt, and Enterprise, but Rossmann has been very public on not supporting Musk because he supports Trump.
And they whine like the losers they are.
Russian Bot!
I have only one thing to say about Musk. A person this unstable and drawing multiple lawsuits should not be a preferred customer of the US Government. He should be forced to sell his controlling shares in Space X, or they should lose all their Government contracts.
I agree. It's really too bad that formerly stalwart companies like Boeing and Intel have really let us down lately.
They have no interest in the social contract.
Yup, it may be time to find new companies that are hungry for an opportunity to work on the space program.
Trump has brought forward one common trait of narcissists that's not in the DSM, but in my experience is universal. It's summed up in Rick Wilson's observation that "everything Trump touches dies." Everyone and everything that interacts with a narcissist will be worse off for the encounter. They will suck out the marrow, and leave it stripped, exhausted, and broken. They seize what they need, destroy the rest, and move on.
Musk is now exhibiting that trait as well, destroying his own companies to feed his bottomless hunger and rage. And now he's teamed up with Trump to ravage our democracy for their own mutual aggrandizement. This cannot end well.
I don't know why anyone's on Twitter any more. (If you're still there, it's past time to leave. I bailed when Musk bought it, and haven't looked back.) My Tesla will be gone by the end of the year. (The company's lies started the first week I bought it in 2020, and haven't stopped.) There's nothing this man does that doesn't cheat the people who do business with him. For all of our own sakes, we need to keep ourselves, our money, our minds, and our nation out of this narcissist's hands.
I decided once I found about about Elon when he was trying to get Twitter, Never to buy a Tesla, because he was involved in it. That business of everything trump touches dies, keeps me of thinking about that being from outer space, The destroyer of Worlds...I left twitter a year or two ago.Never looked back
Threads works for me. The only time I’m on Twitter is Saturday for Jay’s funny posts. I wish they linked to Threads instead but Jay knows what he’s doing.
I am a paid subscriber to Jay and I get his Saturday tweets and I am not on X. It’s shows up on my email. FYI.
Jay has a great Substack!
I dumped twitter after Mush made his outrageous comment about the attack on Paul Pelosi. I have a fake account because sometimes it’s the only way to follow a story, but I never give any likes or comments.
Annnddd fuck Musk’s “star link!!!”
Imagine a solar flare - like the one that got the Earth back in the nineteenth century - hitting the Earth now. Scientists have said that such a flare is likely to hit within in our lifetimes and it could wipe out much our technological infrastructure for decades including the Web/Internet, streaming services, satellite services, and much more. They've said a flare like that could send us back to the early twentieth century or late nineteenth century for decades. That would wipeout our economy and much of the industrialized world's economy in one major blast; non-industrialized countries would fare much better and might thrive under such circumstances.
Congrats. I left it about 3 years ago and haven't looked back.
Had to laugh at "My Tesla will be gone by the end of the year." Fool me once? Twice? Thrice? And still hanging on til end of year? I marvel at your principles!
It’s difficult to ‘get rid’ of a Tesla rn bc nobody wants them. My niece has one she can’t sell without loosing a lot of money
Practicalities: if the election goes sideways, I'm leaving the country (seriously: the lawyer and the paperwork are already in progress). It would be stupid to commit to a new vehicle in the US when I may be buying one abroad come January.
I'm headed to Canada, where I have family. And yes, I'll take a loss on the Tesla, which is another reason never to give Elon money again.
Might as well drive it for as long as I'm here, though. It's paid for.
Where Are You Headed…?!?
My girlfriend and I would love to leave if it goes sideways.
maybe she needs to afford a replacement? but donating that car to your local PBS TV or PBS radio will move it on and you might get a tax donation
It is a deduction from your taxable income not from the taxes you owe. Please keep that in mind.
I know it is before you submit and it is under the charitable deductions list. it may help reduce what you owe. Thanks I have done it in the past
It is kind of remarkable how people like Trump and Elmo somehow manage to think that if you say something in public it CAN’T be held against you in a civil or criminal case. I mean, I guess recent history shows they’re right in practice, but it’s a remarkably stupid thing to actually believe.
And I’m sure we’ll be treated to the “I wasn’t threatening workers; I was just saying illegally firing workers is awesome and I also happen to be running for president.” It’s par for the course for the “We don’t want to oppress Black people; we just talk constantly about how this country was awesome when it did oppress Black people” party.
That’s a good way to put it!
Oh, proud; we need to get you on the prosecution team when it comes time for the trial(s)...for opening and closing arguments at least!
HA if there’s such a thing as the opposite of a lawyer, it’s me. You want me in the press conferences at the end of each court day, though.
Oh, yes, definitely!
Well there is proof of the oppression of Black people. 1619 was when folks even those of African descent were indentured servants. but later on in the mid 1660's there was the beginning of chattel slavery one man was made a slave for life in Virginia. then gradually over time laws were made to oppress the enslaved, you can Google it. this gradual thing made it necessary to have the Civil War to end it. and it still continued. because people felt entitled to oppress people of African decent. so this is not recent.. it has been ongoing
The first Black man enslaved for life was John Punch.
Look up miscegenation laws, when the house of Burgesses let white men off the hook for having to take finanicial care of their illegitimate kids (only the black ones), when was it that the race of the mother determined the status of the child from birth, it began in Virginia and then the other states colonies copied these things.. Loving vs Virginia was the end of miscegenation. and one man a white poor one was caught being in love with a Black woman after that law and was beaten in public..
In researching one of my ancestors a prominent man in Virginia some years ago in 2011, I began to be guided to google these things that I had no idea existed. But it made me see what people who broke these laws could have risked to love another person of a different ethnicity.
I wonder if people like Musk, Trump, and Rowling who go after trans people are themselves insecure about their own sexuality or gender. Why else would it matter so much to them?
I think you just nailed it. Most homophobic a holes end up being gay.
Yes it does beg the question: why are they so threatened by trans folks?
Seriously, we don't say 'mind your own business' enough. I love Tim Walz for bringing that into the national conversation.
Mind your own *damn* business
Narcissism is a very primitive personality construct - toddler-age-ish. How well can a toddler tolerate ambiguity, nuance, anything that is "non-binary" - not well! It's all either/or, good/bad, dark/light, etc. These narcissists fancy themselves as brilliant and when they cannot comprehend shades or degrees of distinction, they lash out. I think the transphobics are a bit different from the gay-phobics, the latter group having been studied and often found to react strongly with arousal to homoerotic imagery ... "repressed" or "latent" gayness ... And one can be gay but be transphobic, or vice versa. Trans stuff is more about gender and how upsetting people seem to be when they can't "tell" if someone is male or female - or heaven-forfend, "non-binary" - Homophobia is more about "sex." Grossly oversimplifying but something to think about. ☮️
“If you don’t like gay sex, don’t have any.” This was a saying in the mid-80’s at least. That message seems to have spread through lots (but not nearly enough) people. It would be a good thing if the same concept were brought to transsexuality. If you don’t like it, don’t do it. Don’t like thinking about it? Think about how you might be able to plant 2 more roses in your yard. Or bake a peach cobbler.
I like "mind your own business!"
I Wished I Had “Turned Gay” in my early 20’s! ;)
people they view as "not or outside the sexual norm narrative" They feel entitled to make everyone not like them feel "other"
Why trans? Short answer: convenience. Long answer...
Humans are social animals. We can't survive alone without external support (look up Alexander Selkirk or watch any episode of "Alone"). We hunt, gather, farm and everything else in groups. Millions of years of biological evolution and millennia of social evolution inclines us to defend a territory for food and protection (consider chimpanzees and meerkats). Much of recent social evolution has been to widen our in-group (tribe) to include more of what used to be outsiders. A century ago we in the US had lots of derogatory words for people based on national origin (mick, wop, polak, etc). These are gone now; outsiders became insiders. More recently we've made some progress bringing Blacks and gays in; that's been harder.
There are many casual haters. They hate some type of other because they were raised that way or they join in with some group (co-workers, fellow students) to become part of the tribe. Rarely, they escalate to actual violence (assault, murder, mass murder).
Then there are the hate mongers. They use hate to gather a tribe about themselves to gain power, money, and fame. The target of their hatred may be some group they truly hate or it may be some convenient target that they judge to be best to incite their followers. Trump, Musk, Rowling, Westboro Baptist Church, many mega-church leaders, and nearly all Republican politicians are hate mongers.
For years, Blacks along with gays were primary hate monger targets. Blacks have become too politically important to be primary targets. Gays gained some status but have fallen back recently. The problem is that there are too many Black people and out gay people around. A hate monger risks turning people away that admire a Black athlete or have a gay cousin.
Trans people are a perfect hate target. There are very few trans people, and unlike Blacks or Irish, there won't be many more trans people than the current small percentage. So, to the vast majority of the country, trans people are truly "other"; hence, a perfect target.
Hate mongers are the worst of the worst. Fascism is built on hate. If I could lock them all up forever, I'd happily do it.
I read before that the rightwing Christians lost their fight against the LGTBQ+ community because it became accepted by so many. They needed a new target to polarize people and they found it in the most vulnerable trans community. I wished we all could see them like many native cultures see them. Some call them "two-spirit" and they revere them for the special insight they have.
JK just seems to be irrationally afraid of men
Maybe past trauma? Typical of the narcissist to try and make everyone conform to their worldview instead of getting the help they need…
She often comments like she had some past abuse.
I admit I am completely unfamiliar with her posts other than what I see others write about. Also glad I never read or saw any Harry Potter books or films, wasn’t on purpose, just had zero interest!
Ditto. No kids and no interest as an adult.
Same! 👏
I believe she had an abusive spouse, that's why she was a poor, single, mom when she wrote the first Hogwarts saga.
It does begin to seem clear that too much money can truly rot the soul. Musk has no core. Trump is lost. Both men suffer from the delusion that they are above the common person.
I hear you, but I believe these two would be just as terrible if they weren't wealthy. There are other wealthy people (Dolly Parton and Taylor Swift) who have used their wealth for good.
I find it interesting that the billionaire-philanthropist class appears to be all women: Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift and Melinda French Gates... at least, as far as I'm aware. Girl Power!
Mackenzie Scott. Laurene Powell. These women are going to save us all.
And the Spanx woman founder. Anyone noticing a pattern?
Please don't make this about gender when there is no correlation. All that is doing is turn people off from legitimate women's-rights causes.
There are generous people in both (and probably all other) genders, as well as horrible people in both.
To wit: Bill Gates. And Warren Buffet. And Conrad Prebys. And Doug Shiley. And I see your Taylor Swift and raise you a Paul McCartney.
And the reverse for women. Leona Helmsley of "We don't pay taxes; only the little people pay taxes" infamy comes to mind. Martha Stewart. Gislane Maxwell (and of course Jeffrey Epstein for a horrible man!)
And suddenly, both Parton and Swift are enemies to the right wing. How sad is that? I have someone on a facebook thread arguing that the IRS investment that let them recapture short remittances from millionaires and companies "hurts the lower earner". People really are deluded.
What kind of tortured logic could they possibly use to back up such an absurd statement? Or did they just hear it on Fox and are too lazy to question it?
They may have been just as terrible but the wealth they have makes them very dangerous in today’s media crazy world. They can buy platforms.
Just because they "can," doesn't mean they "will." Dolly Parton is a good person.
They would still be terrible but perhaps not as powerful, spreading and encouraging hate and all that it embodies.
It looks like they (and many others similarly situated) believe that the size of one’s bank accounts (and yes, crowd or viewership sizes) equate to a form of entitled intelligence, and by extension *deserved* power. This cannot end well for either of these evil blowhards — and I’m doing everything possible to help their demise happen. The quicker the better for the sake of our nation 🇺🇸
Taxing the rich is a good start. Dedicated action to break up monopolies and near-monopolies would also go a long way toward making ours a more egalitarian society, along with the continued rise of labor unions. I hope I live long enough to see some real progress there.
Also bigger taxes on inheritances. these guys did not earn their wealth, perhaps why they are even more insecure and dangerous
Or alternatively, tax inheritances as ordinary income.
You forgot the environmental and health laws he has been breaking. For contaminated water down at his Texas SpaceX location, and also the death of a worker at his Austin plant. He ignores regulatory requirements frequently and so far without any enforcement.
I am aware of these but not aware of any enforcement actions yet, so I didn’t include those.
"And all of it is due to his ill-advised foray into politics, his gigantic ego and his BIG, STUPID MOUTH" (caps mine). OMG! I spit out my coffee! This might be the greatest thing you've ever said!
Both Musk and Trump are fascists Nazi's, and they need to have their shit snapped!
Why doesn't the E.U. just block X at this point? The posting on and moderation of X has to be consistently in violation of their human rights and decency laws. They're at least a third of the userbase. Shut it down!
That may very well be in the offing.
Blocking X would be very, very difficult. Even China has problems with blocking sites.
But what the EU could very well do is ban Twitter from doing business in the EU. Meaning, they can't sell advertisements to European companies. Can't have offices within the EU. Can't have servers within the EU.
True it’s difficult, but not impossible at the core routers. But you’re right banning business would amount to much of the same result!
Then you also have to ban international VPNs, Tor, and with smaller sites you would also run into the issue that blocking them you would also cause tremendous collateral damage of sites that happen to be on the same IP addresses.
All too often, the pursuit of and possession of great wealth is almost a disease. Rowling's at least, is the result of her indisputable creativity. Musk's is just the result of dynastic wealth. It will take a concerted effort on the part of reasonable governments to reign in the distortions of society that individual possession of media produces. I can only hope Tesla stock owners are reconsidering having a megalomaniac as their CEO.
I believe Rowling, like Musk, is a product of algorithmic red-pilling, where all they see within their siloes on social media are increasingly extreme positions that will elicit ever more engagement from them. They are lost because of it.
And it goes way beyond them to affect us all.
I was on a live feed with 200K+ attendees (as best I recall), White Dudes for Kamala, and it functioned great for 3.5 hours. Musk is a dumb tool. He resembles TFG in that he really thinks he IS the stable genius and can get rid of all the troublesome experts and journeymen(-women) keeping the tech running. Such ignorant arrogance. These rich guys are disconnected from reality so far they have no experience what keeps things running. They expect things to just work for them without any annoying need to support the workers, tech people, the actual skilled people. This is being power-man, power-corrupt, delusional. I look forward to protests that are directed at these guys, right at them. They are definitive samsaric hungry ghosts and every move they make increases suffering for all.
Calling themselves stable geniuses is an insult to horses everywhere.
Unfortunately, Musk has been a naturalized citizen of the US since 2002. However, his citizenship should be revoked and his assets should be seized, as he is a clear and present danger to our democracy!
At least he can’t run for President.
Don't hold your breath if Trump comes in he might just make him his heir. He wouldn't give a damn about the constitution. Remember immunity for official acts.
I think that even the present Supreme Court wouldn’t go that far.
Thank God.
Even if his citizenship was revoked (and there might be a legal reason for that, although it's a stretch), that doesn't lead to asset seizure; that would be a fourth-Amendment violation.
Perhaps, but SCOTUS granted the President broad powers.
Musk has been hailed as an innovator and inventor. The reality is, Musk has not done much real inventing or innovation. Tesla automobiles were NOT invented by Musk. He bought out the company that was making electric cars, to turn it into Tesla. Musk is actually a corporate raider. He is without morals or integrity. Musk is an example of capitalist gone bad. Both Musk and Trump are a stain on the species called Homo sapiens.
I hate to defend Musk, but you got one thing wrong. While he didn't start Tesla nor developed the technology, he really did put the company on the map. Without Musk and his PayPal-billions, Tesla would have ended up, best case, like Fisker. Or worst case, like Aptera.
Bottom line, my original comment still stands. He isn’t really much more than a corporate raider. He became rich and famous by profiting off the work of other people. I give him zero credit, because he is unethical in his methods.
If memory serves me, On August 5, 1981, President Ronald Reagan began firing 11,359 air traffic controllers for striking in violation of his order for them to return to work. More about the story here.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/reagan-fires-11359-air-traffic-controllers
While it is true that Reagan broke the union, they were on strike and massively impacted the whole country. Reagan’s actions were warranted and a new union was formed. Trump and Musk don’t want to allow any unions.
He could have given them a contract and better working conditions. Air traffic controllers are still overworked today.
After their “News Conference (sic),” I think musk should speed up his quest for life on Mars and around Labor Day (since neither man understands the concept behind the holiday) launch a two-man Space X space station to land on Mars and test out life there for a few decades. elon as Captain and donald as Co-Pilot. Let the countdown begin!
Why limit it to two? Pack the ship with MAGAs and set up their own little fiefdom.
And twenty-five years from now get a rude surprise along the lines of "The Wrath of Khan"? Nah...keep them both down here and let them finish out their lives in jail where they belong and we can keep our eyes on their doings.
You have to train the MAGAs as telephone sanitizers first (props if you get the nerdy reference!)
I cry "uncle". Googling "Sci fi evolution of bacteria on telephone" took me down a rabbit hole. What's the reference?
Yeah, it's obscure. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It's a hilarious sci-fi spoof. The two main characters, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, end up on a spaceship that carried a couple million frozen residents of a planet, doomed due to overpopulation. People on that planet had intended to evacuate their planet in three phases, workers, middle class, and leaders. They started with middle class people because they deemed them less essential. Middle class people, such as telephone sanitizers. In the end, the other two groups never left their planet because it wasn't overpopulated any more. There is a punchline to that story that I won't reveal in case you want to read it.
Well I do now! That was one of the things in the rabbit hole, but it didn't get specific enough for the telephone sanitizer ref. THAT caught my eye because I spent my career at a telecom (we didn't have sanitizers).