Snark of the Day

Jasmine Crockett Scorching governor Abbott.

"You know, we got Governor hot wheels down there. Come on now. And, and the only thing hot about him is that he is hot ass mess, honey.

I'm gonna move on. I'm gonna move on because I got other people to diss."

🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/ccWKMR6tSL

— Winter’s Politics 🖤 (@WintersPolitics) March 25, 2025

Texas Reichsstatthalte Governor Greg Abbott is a truly horrible excuse for a human being.

In a way, this is actually good.  It shows that the disabled, Abbot is wheelchair bound, can be as much of an affront to human cedently as the temporarily able bodied. 

To the degree that Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) causes anguish for the Texas Governor and his Evil Minions™, this is a good thing.

For all of the MAGAts who have a problem with this, it must suck to be such delicate snowflakes.

How to access Dogequest on the Dark Web

 The backstory here is that I saw the normal web site about 15 minutes before it was taken down, and so I did not have a chance to see if someone assembled this from public data, or if there was a data breach at Tesla.

After looking at the dark web version of the web site, I’m still not sure.  My neighborhood is accurate though, at least in terms of the dealers and superchargers.  (Not gonna confirm the private owners, that is creepy beyond belief)

So, on to the instructions: (click images to embiggen)

---

First, download the version of the Tor Browser from torproject.org appropriate to your computer operating system. In MS Windows, this is a portable installation, so you just run the file and choose a directory, and everything will load on or below that directory. Once installed, set to , "Always connect," then click, "Connect"
You will get a search prompt.  Turn on, "Onionize," and then enter "Dogequest.st," and hit return.
You will get a Duck Duck Go page, click on the link.
A partial map with limited information and sucky icons will come up. In the upper left hand corner, you will see a purple button.  Click it.
You will get the interstitial image and fact box.  There will be a .onion address immediately after the Tor hyperlink.  (Not posting this publicly) Copy and paste this into the address bar.
You now see a more complete map, but you still have crappy icons, so click on the picture icon next to the url bar, select, "Allow," and reload the page.
You get this, with locations of Tesla dealers, Tesla owners, and Doge ratf%$#ers. See the Molotov cocktail cursor?  Took me an hour to get it in there, thank you very much.

I have one complaint: Musk's home outside of Austin is listed as, "Personal residence," It should be listed as, "Musk family compound,” because the Apartheid Era Emerald Heir Pedo Guy™ has some serious David Koresh vibes going on.

Headline of the Day

The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans

—Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic

It really is remarkable how completely incompetent these folks are.

If they were any stupider or more incompetent, they could have run Hillary Clinton's or Kamala Harris' Presidential campaigns.

The world found out shortly before 2 p.m. eastern time on March 15 that the United States was bombing Houthi targets across Yemen.

I, however, knew two hours before the first bombs exploded that the attack might be coming. The reason I knew this is that Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, had texted me the war plan at 11:44 a.m. The plan included precise information about weapons packages, targets, and timing.

This is going to require some explaining.

Indeed it will require, "Some explaining."

Unfortunately, except for some snark about the emojis(!) used, Mr. Goldberg declines to go into as much detail as this incident really demands.

It is notable that JD Vance participated, and was primarily concerned with the optics of the situation, and not the real world consequences.  (What an oleaginous sh%$ stain) 

Skeet of the Day

This is the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) in a nutshell.

I'd call the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) worthless bags of sh%$, but that is unfair to fertilizer containers.

So, We Have a New Fighter

Generic NGAD Rendering Donald Trump has announced that Boeing has won the Next Generation Air Defense (NGAD) fighter contract

The F-47, as it will be designated, is a new heavy fighter to replace the F-22 and (at least some) F-35s.

As near as I can tell from publicly available data, it will have a MTOW in the 40 ton range, similar to that of the F-22.

I would expect the range to be better, because of propulsion and material improvements, though the F-15, which does not have to carry a significant amount of fuel for cooling, might still out range it.

Obviously the stealth features should require less maintenance, and much like its F-22 and F-35 predecessors, it will carry all munitions internally, limiting flexibility.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that the effectiveness of stealth will decrease in future years, given that the underlying physics is publicly available, having been initially published in a Soviet academic journal, and advances in processing power and radar systems should increasingly be able to extend detection ranges.

Also, I am very dubious of Boeing being able to execute on time or on budget, since the company is still a clusterf%$#:

Boeing won a contract March 21 to develop a next-generation combat aircraft for the U.S. Air Force that will spearhead future air wars and throw a lifeline to the company’s struggling military aviation business.

The White House announcement came after a tumultuous competition between Boeing and Lockheed Martin for the prized rights to build the aircraft that is meant to anchor the Air Force’s Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) family of systems.

“It will be known as the F-47, the generals picked a title,” President Donald Trump said. “It’s something the likes that no one has seen before.”

Yeah, sure.  The "Generals picked," the title, which corresponds to Trump being President 47.

Following years of losses and missteps by Boeing Defense, this contract was a, "MUst win," for them, and one has to wonder if much of the reason for this choice is for industrial base preservation as anything else.

………

The Air Force wants a new aircraft with the range, speed and stealth to operate effectively over the vast Indo-Pacific region and against some of China’s most advanced weapons systems, including current and future stealth fighters and surface-to-air missile systems. The requirements dictate an aircraft with performance that defies familiar categories for combat aircraft, such as a fighter or bomber. But Boeing’s future aircraft is expected to feature supersonic speed and perhaps a lack of vertical control surfaces, along with a large structure to carry all fuel, sensors and weapons internally.

The cost-plus contract award for NGAD also offers a reprieve for a defense and space business within Boeing that has reported over $18 billion in reach-forward losses on fixed-price military and NASA programs since 2014, including $5 billion in new charges from 2024 alone. Despite the losses, Boeing invested heavily to win the NGAD contract, including starting construction nearly two years ago on a new factory in St. Louis to produce the aircraft.

This appears to be, unlike the F-35, a single service program, as all the current renderings show a tailless design, which mitigates against carrier versions or STOVL versions.

They are promising that it will be cheaper than the F-22, but I sincerely doubt this. 

Other sources have stated that they expect the aircraft to first take to the air some time in 2028, of which I am dubious.  In any case, I would expect service entry to follow any first flight by around a decade.

This Is Not a Surprise

Trump has a plan to eliminate Social Security.

It's simple, they believe that if they gut the Social Security Administration, the resulting poor performance will undermine support for the program.

They put it in a memo, and the memo got leaked:

An internal Social Security Administration (SSA) memo, sent on March 13 and obtained by Popular Information, details proposed changes to the claims process that would debilitate the agency, cause significant processing delays, and prevent many Americans from applying for or receiving benefits.

The memo, authored by Acting Deputy SSA Commissioner Doris Diaz, purports to be motivated by a desire to mitigate "fraud risks."

 

Elon Musk has pushed several false claims about the nature and scope of Social Security fraud. In a recent interview on Fox Business, Musk suggested that 10% of federal expenditures were related to Social Security fraud. This is false. Social Security fraud does exist, but "improper" Social Security payments amounts to about $9 billion annually — less than 1% of total Social Security benefits paid and 0.1% of the federal budget. Most improper payments are not criminal fraud but the result of beneficiaries or the SSA failing to update records.

The biggest change contemplated by Diaz's memo is to require "internet identity proofing" for "benefit claims… made over the phone." When an SSA customer is "unable to utilize the internet ID proofing, customers will be required to visit a field office to provide in-person identity documentation."

When this is juxtaposed with thousands of layoffs at field offices, and dozens of field office closures, it means that people will not be able to get their benefits.

With wait times for face to face appointments exceeding a month before the cuts, it is no stretch of the imagination to see wait times of 6 months to a year to address even the most basic issues.

When people don't get their benefits, or they are forced to jump through ridiculous hoops to get them, the popularity of the program will tank, and at that point, Trump and his  Evil Minions™ can gift wrap social security and give it to Wall Street.

Accounting Fraud Much?

It appears that Tesla somehow managed to misplace $1,400,000,000.00 in capital expenditures.

I'm thinking that some of it may have made its way to various conveniences at the Musk family compound outside of Austin.

As Tesla’s car sales and share price plummet in response to Elon Musk’s political and physical stances, we would like to draw readers’ attention to something puzzling in the group’s accounts.

Compare Tesla’s capital expenditure in the last six months of 2024 to its valuation of the assets that money was spent on, and $1.4bn appears to have gone astray.

The sum is big enough to matter even at Tesla, and comes at a moment when attention is returning to the group’s underlying numbers, now that its fully diluted stock market valuation has crashed from $1.7tn to below $800bn.

A closer look at Tesla’s cash flow statement may also prompt investors to ask other questions, such as why a business with a $37bn cash pile raised $6bn of new debt last year?

First, consider the apparent anomaly. Tesla is investing heavily, particularly in AI infrastructure. It intends to spend at least $11bn in each of the next few years, aiming to take advantage of opportunities in robots, computing and batteries.

Looking at last year, in the third and fourth quarter combined, Tesla spent $6.3bn on “purchases of property and equipment excluding finance leases, net of sales” according to its cashflow statements.

Over on the balance sheet, however, the gross value of property, plant and equipment rose by only $4.9bn in that period, to $51bn. Note seven to the financial statements has the breakdown:


………

Tesla reports the gross figures and the accumulated depreciation, so we can see how the net figure is arrived at. It didn’t disclose any sales or “material” asset impairments that would account for the missing $1.4bn, and we’re sure auditors PWC would be alive to the important signal such declarations of mal-investment would send.

Foreign exchange seems unlikely to explain the gap either. Tesla makes cars in the US, China, and Germany, and while the euro did weaken against the dollar in the periods, four-fifths of Tesla’s “long-lived assets” are in America. See note 17, for those reading along:



Tesla’s gap is also unusual by its own standards. Here’s a chart of capital expenditure on PP&E vs the change in gross value of those assets for every quarter since the start of 2019:



A positive number indicates that the balance sheet value of assets rose by more than capex. Aside from 2021, when there was a $1.3bn rise in the value of the assets, the variance has tended to even out and has not approached the scale of the last quarter.

Such anomalies can be red flags, potentially indicative of weak internal controls. Aggressive classification of operating expenses as investment can be used to artificially boost reported profits.

(emphasis mine) 

OK, it could be money to the Musk compound AND accounting tricks to boost the profit numbers in order to slow the collapse of Tesla stocks.

In either case, this is beginning to sound like some Enron sh%$ is going on.

This Has Been the Right's Goal for Decades

Donald Trump has issued an executive order eliminating the Department of Education.

In case you are wondering, this is unlawful.  This requires an act of Congress.

That being said, Trump and his Evil Minions™ are doing their level best to destroy the DoE:

Teachers unions and Democratic politicians joined in denouncing Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at eliminating the US Department of Education, with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) saying simply: “See you in court.”

Trump’s move was long trailed, so much so that Randi Weingarten, the head of the AFT – which represents 1.8 million teachers – put out her statement the day before the order was signed. Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, which represents 200,000 members, teachers and other education workers mostly in New York City, said: “We will join our national union and public education allies to protect students and educators. We are working with our partners to file lawsuits to stop this executive overreach.

………

Polling shows the majority of people in the US oppose dismantling the Department of Education.

………

Eliminating the department has long been a goal of some parts of the Republican right. On Friday, Margaret Spellings, education secretary under George W Bush, who expanded the department’s role, told the Associated Press that Republicans in Congress traditionally voiced support for elimination while voting against it, mindful of how federal funds reach schools in their districts.

“It was always a little bit of a wink and a nod deal,” Spellings said. “Donald Trump has called the bluff.”

………

Trump’s order will not eliminate the department entirely. Created by Congress in 1972, it can only be eliminated by the same body.

The law doesn't matter to criminals, so even with the inevitable court injunctions, I expect the dismantling of the DoE to continue apace.

I don't think that Trump will be backing down, since dismantling the DoE will make it far easier for local school districts to discriminate against people of color, and making bigotry great again is a core value of this administration.

Damn

One of the more fun things to do on a Sunday in Baltimore is to go to the Baltmore Farmers' Market. It's typically open from mid April to the end opf November underneath the JFX (I-83) overpass right next to the (unfortunately closed) Hollywood Diner of the Barry Levinson film fame.

You can get lots of great produce, some street food, the fresh off the machine donuts are da bomb, and commission a writer to type up a poem or suchlike on an old manual typewriter. 

There is a storm on the horizon though, with the market due to open April 13, and for a long time it appeared that there is no one to run it.

It’s a sign of hope — that after the business has made it through the lean winter months, it’ll start to make money again, said Dorian Brown, who owns Neopol Smokery with his mom. There’s the chance to gain new customers and catch up with old ones. And it’s just plain fun. “I think it stands up against any farmers market” on the East Coast, he said.

But this year, Brown and other vendors say they’re worried about the market’s future. Others said they’re questioning whether the event, which dates to 1977, is still a priority for city officials. “We’re obviously concerned,” Brown said.

In January, representatives for Mayor Brandon Scott announced they were seeking a new operator for the market. The news came three months after Scott canceled the city’s contract with the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, which had previously run the farmers market and other events. Though the request for proposals closed Feb. 21, the city has yet to announce a successor.

There have been reports that BOPA will be brought back for a final year, and that the search will continue.

………

In an email, [Baltimore Mayor Brandon] Scott spokesman Kamau Marshall said the city is still reviewing applications for proposals to operate the market. They received eight responses, of which five met the criteria for selection. BOPA will continue to manage the market until a replacement is found, and the group will assist with the transition to a new operator, Marshall said. Funding for this year’s Baltimore Farmers’ Market comes from BOPA’s existing contract with the city. Baltimore is currently negotiating a new contract with BOPA for the next fiscal year, which starts in July.

I'm not sure where this is going, but it appears that vendors have not been kept in the loop.

I do hope that it opens on schedule, it's the best place to get Romanesco (fractile) broccoli.

Ecch (Tweet) of the Day (Unverified)

OMG it’s happening.

‘The 2024 Cybertruck does NOT qualify for coverage under Safeco’s Personal Auto Program due to the vehicle being on our ineligible vehicle list.’

This is gonna leave a mark.

Wow. pic.twitter.com/pryBL1ga5h

— CoffeyTimeNews (@CoffeyTimeNews) March 21, 2025

I need to note that I have seen no independent confirmation of this, so I am dubious that this is true, though I really REALLY want it to be true.

That this closely mirrors a proposal that I have supported for about a decade, which would require cops to carry liability insurance, is just icing on the cake. 

Headline of the Day

The True Genius of Elon Musk Is His Subsidy Harvesting Strategy, Political Science Professor Says

—Fortune Magazine

The Apartheid Era Emerald Heir Pedo Guy™ is the most egregious welfare queen in the nation.

Meanwhile in Turkey

Facing the most serious electoral challenge in years, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has initiated a crackdown on his political opponents.

Turkish police have detained Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, the main political challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in an intensifying crackdown against the opposition to the country’s longtime ruler.

State media said İmamoğlu’s detention on Wednesday was part of an investigation into alleged terrorism links, but the opposition described the move as a “coup attempt” and the arrest sent the nation’s markets tumbling.

The opposition Republican People’s party (CHP) had been set to name İmamoğlu, one of the country’s most popular political figures, as its presidential candidate on Sunday ahead of elections due by 2028.

The detention comes a day after the state Istanbul University cancelled İmamoğlu’s higher education degree, which would disqualify him from entering the presidential race if not overturned on appeal.

The state-run Anadolu news agency said the probe into İmamoğlu was linked to possible support from a pro-Kurdish political group for his 2024 mayoral re-election campaign.

Yeah, sure.

………

In recent months, his government has embarked on a crackdown targeting politicians from left and right, journalists, academics — even an astrologer who strayed into election predictions — with hundreds of people arrested as the president’s rivals have been hobbled.

………

In local elections last year, the party suffered its worst defeat since its creation more than 20 years ago. İmamoğlu secured re-election in Erdoğan’s old stronghold of Istanbul by a margin of more than 11 per cent.

This is an incredibly transparent attempt by Erdoğan to kneecap his opposition before the upcoming elections.

It's Thursday ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Fed Funds Rate Since 1970


Year over year inflation


Initial Unemployment Claims The lede here, from yesterday is that the the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee held rates steady, as forecast.

This is not really a surprise.  There are a lot of uncertainties right now, and the Fed is disinclined to make changes under such conditions:

The Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged in its meeting on Wednesday for a second time in a row, and officials stuck to their previous forecast for two more cuts this year.

But policymakers indicated that they are bracing for higher inflation and slower growth as a result of President Trump’s policies, which they said had increased “uncertainty” about the economic outlook.

The central bank’s decision to hold interest rates at 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent extends a pause that has been in place since January, following a series of cuts in late 2024 that lowered borrowing costs by a percentage point.

When — and to some extent whether — the Fed ultimately follows through with cutting rates again this year remains dependent on Mr. Trump’s economic plans, including the sweeping tariffs he has threatened or imposed. ​ Wednesday’s meeting marked the central bank’s most direct acknowledgment to date that the president’s policies are set to have a real impact on the economy.

That last sentence is a rather oblique way of saying that the Federal Reserve is dealing with an aircraft piloted by a chimpanzee.

It is significant that they held rates steady even though the February inflation report was pretty good:

Let me cut right to the chase: the February consumer inflation report was actually very good. It wasn’t just that the headline and core numbers only went up 0.2% for the month, or that the YoY gains in each decelerated. Let me let you in on a little secret: one of the first things I do when the report comes out is scour the categories for any “problem children,” which I arbitrarily define as a category where there has been more than 4% inflation YoY.

This month, outside of the two most lagging suspects, shelter and transportation services, there were none outside of some really obscure small components, like men’s suits. And even in the case of the two remaining problem children, both decelerated, especially on a YoY basis.

In other economic news, the January JOLTS (Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey) report: monthly increased in January, though there were downward revisions to earlier reports:

To review briefly, the monthly JOLTS reports give us a more granular look at the employment sector, but are delayed by one month vs. the jobs report. Like the jobs reports, most JOLTS series have shown deceleration for several years. The question over the last year has been whether they level off or continue to decelerate towards outright declines in net job creation or stabilize in a “soft landing.”

Additionally, I look at this data because it is a slight leading indicator for both initial jobless claims and unemployment; and for wage growth as well.

For January, the JOLTS data released this morning with one exception was positive on a month over month basis. Unfortunately, this was counterbalanced by substantial downward revisions to all of the 2024 data on openings, hires, and quits. Layoffs and discharges were not materially affected.

Finally, we have the weekly unemployment report, which is still largely flat, with initial claims up 2,000 to 230,000, continuing claims increasing by 33,000 to 1.892 million, and claims by federal employees (delayed by 1 weeks) increased from 514 to 1,066.

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased slightly last week, suggesting the labor market remained stable in March, though the outlook is darkening amid rising trade tensions and deep cuts in government spending.

Despite the low level of layoffs, more people are staying on jobless rolls longer compared to the same period last year, the report from the Labor Department on Thursday showed. 

………

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits rose 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 223,000 for the week ended March 15. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 224,000 claims for the latest week. Claims have been bouncing in the middle of the 203,000-242,000 range this year, with layoffs generally staying low and hiring cooling off.

………

A separate program for unemployment compensation for federal employees (UCFE), which is reported with a one-week lag, decreased by 514 to 1,066, despite the mass firings of public workers by President Donald Trump's administration as part of an unprecedented push to shrink the government.

Labor analysts said the rapid firings led by tech billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency were in some cases being undertaken in ways that made it harder for laid-off workers to file for unemployment benefits.

I think that the numbers at this point are not reflecting what is going on.

Whether it is just lagging, or, as is implied above, the Apartheid Era Emerald Heir Pedo Guy™ and other elements of the Trump regime are taking steps to game the numbers.

Not a clue as to where the numbers are going.

Sauce for the Gander

Instructions

Have you heard of Dogequest?

It is (was) a site, at  https://dogeque.st, which has since gone dark.

I caught a screenshot of the instructions, as well as a download of the web page

I loaded it mid afternoon, and  about an hour later, you got, "Domain not found."

Whoever made the site describes it as follows:

DOGEQUEST is the ultimate hub for enthusiasts of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)! Our innovative platform allows users to explore an interactive map of DOGE landmarks.
But that's not all! We also cater to Tesla Motors owners, providing a comprehensive resource to locate nearby service centers, showrooms, and charging stations-all at their fingertips.

Leveraging our cutting-edge artificial intelligence algorithms, DOGEQUEST goes a step further by connecting like-minded Tesla owners with one another, facilitating a vibrant community through shared contact information. Join us as we revolutionize the way DOGE fans and Tesla owners connect and explore!

They further note that, "DOGEQUEST neither endorses nor condemns any actions," referring to potential protests while talking about artistic acts with spray paint.

Also, the cursor is a Molotov Cocktail. 

You can go here for more details.  Give 404 Media some love.  They broke the story.

My suggestion to Tesla owners, sell your cars before your insurance skyrockets.

Funny, That

It turns out that Schumer's concession to Republicans on the continuing resolution to fund the government, the one where he got to have 4 amendments considered, and the 'Phants predictably shot them all down in short order has resulted in Democratic Party’s favorability rating hitting a record low/.

This level of naked fecklessness, cowardice, and craven careerism does not sit well with the American Public.

The numbers are 54% unfavorable, 29% favorable, and 16% no opinion, a record low.

The numbers are driven by a drop in favorability by Democrats and Democratic leaners.

A reasonable conclusion is the Democratic faithful have lost patience with the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment)

It also does not appear to sit well with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jefferies, who has pointedly refused to support Schumer's continuing as the Senate Democratic leader.

Year after year, in shutdown fight after shutdown fight, in debt-limit standoff after debt-limit standoff, you could count on this: While Republicans would be bickering and taking potshots at each other, Democratic leaders would stay in lockstep — giving their members a united front to rally behind.

That all exploded in dramatic fashion this week, culminating Friday at a news conference unlike any I have seen in my career covering Congress, where the No. 1 House Democrat repeatedly dodged questions about whether the No. 1 Senate Democrat was fit to lead.

Should Senate Democrats ditch Chuck Schumer? House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, as the kids say, chose violence: “Next question.”

Jeffries did not dodge the question, he said that Schumer was unfit to lead as directly and forcefully as he could given the constraints of his position.

Rather unsurprisingly, Pelosi, through anonymous quotes from current and former staffers, is condemning Jeffries, because one geriatric leader past their sell by date supports another geriatric leader past their sell by date.

I get why Schumer and Pelosi did what they did, they are incapable of understanding that things have changed, much like Franz von Papen, they are as wrong, or perhaps as grasping and malicious, as von Papen was.

Not a Pickup Truck, a 5 Passenger Portable Stove

Roll Tape!

It turns out that the Tesla Cybertruck is more likely to kill its passengers in a fire than the Ford Pinto.

Why am I not surprised? 

Elon Musk’s Cybertrucks may look indestructible: hulking blocks of aluminum and steel that appear to be better suited for a space station than a parking spot on a narrow city street. But a new report suggests that they’re actually deadlier than one of the most infamous—and flawed—American cars ever made: the Ford Pinto.

An analysis published Thursday by the auto news website FuelArc found that, in their one year of existence, the approximately 34,000 Cybertrucks on the roads had five fire fatalities, giving them a fatality rate of 14.5 per 100,000 units. That’s 17 times the fatality rate of the Ford Pintos, whose famously flawed gas tank design on the car’s rear end led to 27 reported fire fatalities in its nine years on the road, resulting in a fatality rate of 0.85 per 100,000 units, according to FuelArc.

The authors of the Cybertruck analysis openly acknowledge caveats in their methodology. First off, Tesla—the car’s manufacturer and one of Musk’s companies—has not confirmed how many Cybertrucks it has sold. FuelArc puts its best guess at 34,438, based on “a variety of means, including piecing together public reporting.” Secondly, the five Cybertruck fatalities include the one that occurred in Las Vegas last month outside Trump International Hotel, when an Army soldier fatally shot himself before the car, packed with fireworks, exploded. Musk claimed in a post on X that the explosion was “unrelated to the vehicle itself.” Thus, the FuelArc analysis acknowledges that this fatality is “controversial” since the driver’s cause of death was reportedly a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the burns occurred after his death.

Yes, I am aware that this is a small sample, and that the data is incomplete.

F%$# being fair about this, and f%$# the Apartheid Era Emerald Heir Pedo Guy™.

The Front Fell Off

Came to the interview in a Cybertruck

It appears that Tesla has paused Cybertruck (Swasticar) deliveries because pieces keep falling off, particularly in cold weather.

If this sounds to you like a Clarke and Dawe sketch, you are correct:

According to Tesla delivery agents, Cybertruck deliveries are on hold. There’s a containment hold as many owners are reporting trims flying off the supposedly ‘bulletproof’ electric truck.

Many Tesla Cybertruck buyers are taking to forums and social media to report that their deliveries are being pushed.

There are 8 Cybertrucks buyers waiting for deliveries who reported the delay on the Cybertruck Owners Club forum and many more on X and Facebook.

Most are being told by Tesla delivery specialists that there’s a “containment hold” on all Cybertruc deliveries.

A containment hold generally occurs when an automaker finds something wrong with newly produced vehicles and wants to hold deliveries to fix the issue so that it can avoid recalling vehicles in customers’ hands.

………

Despite the fact that Tesla has claimed that the Cybertruck is “bulletproof” and made out of an “exoskeleton”, the electric vehicle’s build is actually much closer to a traditional unibody system rather than “exoskeleton.” Most of the visible body parts, which would be part of the chassis in a exoskeleton build, are actually trims attached to the body.

In some cases, they are extremely flimsy trims.

We previously reported on Tesla recalling 11,000 Cybertrucks due to some trims detaching while driving. That recall was in June of last year, but is looks like the problem might be coming back.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems that for an expensive car targeting the high end of the auto market, Teslas are VERY cheaply made.

 

 

Jeff Zuckerberg, Meet Barbara Streisand ⃰

The criminal enterprise formerly known as Facebook™ is aggressively trying to suppress a tell-all memoir by its former global public policy director, and rather ironically, this is getting a lot of ink lately.

They have tried for an injunction, and the most that they have gotten is temporary injunctions preventing Sarah Wynn-Williams from publicizing her book, but the publisher is not subject to her arbitration agreement, so the book will be printed and distributed. 

What Facebook's hardball has done is generated a fair amount of press coverage that would have otherwise not occurred.

I understand why they are doing this, the details are horrifying, though not a surprise:

During the 14 years Sheryl Sandberg worked at Facebook, chief operating officer to Mark Zuckerberg’s chief executive, it was often assumed she was the grown-up keeping the unruly tech kids in line.

Not so, says Sarah Wynn-Williams, who worked at Facebook between 2011 and 2017, rising to become its global public policy director. “There were no adults in the room,” she says. “These are people who have assumed a lot of power, thinking none of the rules apply to them.”

Wynn-Williams’s crusading new memoir, Careless People, has been the talk of Silicon Valley this past week. It is a shocking, darkly funny and highly critical exposé of the six years she spent at the tech giant.

Zuckerberg does not want you to read Careless People. He doesn’t even want you to read this interview. On Wednesday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, obtained a temporary injunction from a US arbitrator preventing Wynn-Williams from doing any further promotion of the book, although Macmillan went ahead with its UK publication. By Friday night the book had reached No 4 on the print bestsellers list on Amazon.

Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, says the book includes “defamatory and untrue allegations” about its executives, that it is a mix of “out-of-date and previously reported claims about the company” and described Wynn-Williams as a disgruntled former employee “fired for poor performance and toxic behaviour” (recollections differ). Although it axed independent fact-checkers from its own platforms in January, Meta demanded the right to fact-check the book in a legal letter before publication.

 The revelations are not a surprise:

• Zuckerberg is an immature jerk.
• Lots of nepotism and Harvard bros. 
• Cheryl Sandburg seems to have been creepy at best, and a harasser at worst.
• Facebook does not give a f%$# about its employees.
• Zuckerberg did not believe that its action had the effect on the 2016 elections.  When his staff finally explained it to him, his response was considering running for President himself. 
• Facebook promised the Chinese that it would, "Pomote social order."
• That Facebook's right wing advocate, Brooks Brothers Riot participant Joel Kaplan, had sexually harassed her. 

This book sounds like a fascinating read, and but for the lawfare against Ms.. Wynn-Williams, I would never have known of it.

^*For those of you who have been living in a cave since 2003, the Streisand Effect refers to when attempts to suppress information leads to wider notoriety for the aforementioned information.

Ecch (Tweet) of the Day

I take it back https://t.co/gR1RLzZYFF

— Schlatt (@jschlatt) March 9, 2025

Major props here.

Most folks would just delete the tweet and pretend that it never existed.

Meme of the Day

I assume that this is a Photoshop, but damn it's inspired!

This Makes Me Smile

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is in  International Criminal Court custody in the Hague for his role in directing the summary executions of thousands of his fellow citizens.

He's guilty as f%$#, and there are many hours or recordings where he brags about his ordering the extra-judicial killings.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was taken into custody by the International Criminal Court on Wednesday following his arrest in Manila on murder charges linked to his "war on drugs" in which thousands of purported dealers and users were killed.

The ICC said in a statement Duterte was "surrendered to the custody of the International Criminal Court. He was arrested by the authorities of the Republic of the Philippines...for charges of murder as a crime against humanity".

The 79-year-old arrived at Rotterdam airport on a chartered plane earlier on Wednesday. He will be brought before an ICC judge in The Hague in the coming days for an initial appearance, the statement said. He was transferred to a detention unit on the Dutch coast.

Duterte, who led the Philippines from 2016 to 2022, will face allegations of crimes against humanity for overseeing death squads in his anti-drugs crackdown. He could become the first Asian former head of state to go on trial there.

There are, of course, many other heads of state who should be chilling their heels in The Hague, including many former Presidents of the United States, but I don't expect that to happen.

Good Riddance

While I do understand that the Democratic Party does not enforce the same sort of ideological rigidity that the Republican Party does, I do believe that there are a few issues that should be required for party membership.

One of these is supporting an increase in the minimum wage, at least until it hits the inflation adjusted levels where it was at in 1980. 

Senator Jeanne Shaheen (DINO-NY) voted against Bernie Sanders attempts to raise the minimum wage. (There is also her votes for Trump nominees, but that is secondary to the matter)

Her record is not much different from Sinema's or Manchins, though she has kept a lower profile.

As such I am delighted that she has announced that she will not be running for reelection in 2026.

I understand that this makes New Hampshire more difficult for the Democrats in 2026, but I really do not care.

It's better having someone outside the tent pissing in than it is to have someone inside the tent pissing in.

This is the Epitome of Failure

True as turnips is. It was as true as taxes is. And nothing's truer than them.

Trump just lauded Chuck Schumer for caving on the Republican budget bill.

Chuck Schumer is a useless watery turd.

Chuck Schumer’s spineless flip on passing the House GOP funding bill has made him Trump’s new favorite Democrat—a dreadful look for the Senate minority leader.

On Thursday, Schumer announced he would vote to pass the GOP’s budget bill that would keep the government funded through September and avoid a government shutdown, despite signaling that he wouldn’t pass the bill the day before.

“Congratulations to Chuck Schumer for doing the right thing—Took ‘guts’” and courage! The big Tax Cuts, L.A. fire fix, Debt Ceiling Bill, and so much more, is coming,” Trump posted on Truth Social Friday morning.

“Again, really good and smart move by Senator Schumer. This could lead to something big for the USA, a whole new direction and beginning!” Trump added.

The bill, which narrowly passed in the Republican-led House this week, is a disaster, and all but one House Democrat voted against it. It would gut funding for health care and homeless shelters, increase military spending, fund mass deportation, and codify Trump’s plan to dismantle the federal government.

Schumer is on board, arguing that a shutdown would be worse than passing the bill because it would give Trump and Elon Musk “carte blanche to destroy vital government services at a significantly faster rate than they can right now.”

Many on the left are calling for Representative Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez  to primary him in response.

I would argue against such an action. 

AOC won the first time because no one believed that she could possibly win against the number 4 Democrat in the House of Representatives.

When it became clear it was competitive, it was too late.

She would not have that advantage this time.

If she were to run, and almost inevitably lose, it would be the end of her political career.

She is widely loathed by the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment), and without the power of incumbency, she would be subject to every dirty trick in the book, and likely a not insignificant amount of lawfare in any new election.

Some other things could be done.  A good start would be lobbying the Working Families Party to drop him from their ballot line  (New York State has a weird electoral system) for the 2026 election.

Also, start targeting his cronies.

I Was an Idiot When I Was 16

Don't watch this.

When I was 16, I saw some ads for a movie called Laserblast, a film now best known forthe screen debut of Eddie Deezen and it's showing as the season 7 finale of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

It came out in the Summer of 1978, and I had just turned 16 at the time, and for some reason, I really wanted to see it.

It was clearly a B-Movie, but something appealed to me.

It was out of the only theater that it was playing at in Portland, Oregon in a week, so I never saw it, until now. 

I was stationary bicycling and I got motion sickness.

It is really, REALLY, bad.

It's not the production values, they are what is to be expected from a 1970s Sci-Fi exploitation film, and the acting, which, while not stellar, is again about what is to be expected from 1970s Sci-Fi exploitation film, but the scripting and plotting is the worst that I have ever seen, and I've seen Plan 9 From Outer Space.

The plot was completely incoherent and the dialog was laughable.

The fact that I spent over 40 years regretting not having seen it is pathetic. 

To quote Roger Ebert, ""I hated this movie, hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this movie, hated it. Hated every simpering, stupid, vacant audience insulting moment of it."

Of Course They Are F%$#ing This Up

So, President Musk and Donald Trump issue a sweeping return to work order, but fail to account for the janitorial services required for this, and much unpleasantness ensues

This stinks, both metaphorically and literally:

Many federal office buildings have seen a surge of employees coming back from telework after President Trump’s “return to office” (RTO) memorandum. But facilities budgets have not been adjusted to account for the changes. According to multiple federal employees, office workspaces and bathrooms in federal buildings are rapidly deteriorating, with overflowing trash cans, clogged sinks, an abundance of pests, and in some cases a lack of toilet paper and other basic products.

The president issued his memorandum forcing all federal employees back to the office on the first day of his presidency, asking all executive branch agencies “to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis.” The Office of Personnel Management responded with guidance two days later, based on false claims that practically no federal employee comes to the office.

The moves not only reversed a 15-year trend toward more telework that was required by federal law, but collective-bargaining agreements that allowed for it. OPM adjusted its guidance to account for this, but mainly to give a green light for agencies to break those union agreements. Still, it has taken time for agencies to set deadlines for return-to-office policies, and many have just started over the past two weeks.

Unfortunately, custodial budgets did not rise to meet the demand.

………

The situation in federal buildings mirrors the experience at Twitter after Elon Musk purchased the company and cut custodial staff, who were unionized. Workers reportedly brought their own toilet paper to the job. 

It does appear that the Apartheid Era Emerald Heir Pedo Guy™ has learned nothing from earlier mistakes.

He is a f%$#ing moron.

This Sh%$ is Just So Overwhelming

It instills in me a kind of writer's paralysis. which is why I have been posting so little lately.

President Musk and Donald Trump are f%$#ing exhausting. 

I'm left staring at the screen and growing virtual potatoes on Mars instead of writing.

A Feature, Not a Bug

I am not at all surprised that the head of a charter school network in Texas serving fewer than 1,000 students is making more than the Chancellor of New York City Public Schools, which have an enrollment of nearly 1,000,000 students.

Looting is at the core of the charter school initiatives around the country: 

Over the last three years, the head of a small charter school network that serves fewer than 1,000 students has taken home up to $870,000 annually, a startling amount that appears to be the highest for any public school superintendent in the state and among the top in the nation.

Valere Public Schools Superintendent Salvador Cavazos’ compensation to run three campuses in Austin, Corpus Christi and Brownsville exceeds the less than $450,000 that New York City’s chancellor makes to run the largest school system in the country.

But Cavazos’ salary looks far more modest in publicly posted records that are supposed to provide transparency to taxpayers. That’s because Valere excludes most of his bonuses from its reports to the state and on its own website, instead only sharing his base pay of about $300,000.

………

Details concerning Cavazos’ compensation, and that of two other superintendents identified by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune, drew a sharp rebuke from the association that advocates for charter schools across the state.

Yes, I'm sure that the charter school advocates are very upset that they got exposed.

 

In Chuck Jones, Veritas

I was not impressed by the Congressional Democratic Party response to Trump's "Hate of the Union" speech.

My first take was that they looked like some very lame people cosplaying bidders at Sotheby's bidding on the soon to be shredded Banksy painting, Girl with Balloon.

I was quickly disabused of this notion by Keith Olbermann, who correctly noted that it was more akin to the Coyote of Roadrunner notariety holding up this sign:

Yeah, the one on the left is far more engaging, isn't he?

Olbermann mentions a report in Axios describing how senior house leadership took people who they felt were too extreme in their protest, which means anything beyond lame signs and even lamer pink outfits, and he rightly calls them out to be pathetic:

Axios reports that Jeffries, the Minority Whip Catherine Clark, and Caucus Chair Pete Aguiar, the top three Democrats in the House summoned a dozen rank and file members to what was called a come to Jesus meeting about the disruptions during Trump's I'm God Right speech last week. 

You're thinking Jeffries and Clark and Aguiar should have been awarding the disruptors medals of some kind, or maybe scolding them for not disrupting enough. No, sir, leadership is quote unhappy that congressmen and congresswomen who see the invisible fire consuming our nation had the audacity to react to it, Reps like Jasmine Crockett, Maxwell Frost, Maxine Dexter of Oregon, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico.

You had a lot of nerve straying from our plan, Jeffries told them, and reminded them of his dear colleague letter he sent them before the speech, insisting on a quote strong, determined and dignified democratic presence in the chamber, and how they violated that by making themselves the story.

Seriously, if it came, Jeffries thinks, limiting protests, holding up those pathetic little signs that they all had, and to what was called quote outfit coordination and refusal to clap on quote. 

If he thinks that was a sign of strength, or that it was determined, or that it was somehow dignified,
he should be marched out of the House Chamber faster than Al Green was,

In fact, Jeffrey should be marched out of the House Chamber by Democrats.

The difference between the Coyote and Hakeem Jefferies is that the Coyote knows that he is about to get run down by a train.

We are going to have to rely on the stupidity of Trump and his  Evil Minions™ to save us, because the feckless leaders of the Democratic Party establishment (There is no Democratic Party establishment) are busy trying to convince us that everything will be fine. 

It's not fine, and it's not going to be fine, and a lot of people are going to get hurt while House Democratic Leader Jeffries and idiots like James Carvill remain determined to allow people to be injured and killed because they believe that eventually, some day, this will restore the Democratic Party to power.

This sort of craven careerist cowardice is why people do not vote for Democrats.

Linkage

• Google Is Now the East India Company of the Internet (The Honest Broker) He is arguing that Google is following a path of arrogance, then madness, then self destruction.  In ancient Greek, this is, "
• Hubris — Ate — Nemesis."
• Wall Street Is Jacking Up The Cost Of Your Doctor Visits (Lever News) Private equity destroys everything that it touches.
• Trump’s First Big Fiasco Triggers Stephen Miller’s Rage—Take Note Dems (The New Republic) Trump ally says that there is no immigration problem, there are just lazy American workers.  Much hilarity ensues.
• Ford pauses retaliatory measures to U.S. tariffs after Trump delays them by 30 days (CBC News) Ontario Premier and bowling ball impersonator Doug Ford was promising that he would cancel the province's $100m Starlink contract when the tariff kicks in.  File under strange bedfellows.  
• Google’s Sergey Brin Says Engineers Should Work 60-Hour Weeks in Office to Build AI That Could Replace Them (Gizmodo) I want the guillotine concession.
• Alibaba Releases Advanced Open Video Model, Immediately Becomes AI Porn Machine (404 Media) This is the first example of an actual viable business model for AI.

Louis Rossman has gives a remarkably profane example of Tikkun Olam in his discussions of influencers:

About the February Jobs Report

It was released on Friday, and I have no bloody clue as to what this all means.

+150K jobs on the non-farm payroll, which is OK, unemployment rising by 0.1% to 4.1%, with 10K federal jobs lost. (as of the 2nd week of February).

It might be a moment of hush before chaos ensues, or it may be business as usual.

U.S. employers added 151,000 jobs in February, the first full month under the new Trump administration, the Labor Department reported on Friday. The gain extended a streak of job growth to 50 months. The unemployment rate ticked up slightly, to 4.1 percent, from 4 percent in January.

The report showed a decline of 10,000 in federal employment. But it was based on surveys conducted in the second week of February, as the Trump administration’s mass firings, buyouts and hiring freezes at federal agencies were still unfolding.

The survey has likely not registered “more than a sliver of the full impact from federal government layoffs,” said Preston Caldwell, chief U.S. economist at Morningstar. “That should change in next month’s job report.”

So, the economy has jumped out of a 23rd floor window, and at floor 13, everything is OK.

This is going to get very ugly very fast.

About F%$#ing Time

I can see why some people want to home school their kids, but all too often, they end up not educating their children at all.

As such, I find it refreshing that Illinois is considering a bill to regulate home schooling.

The fact that a parent wants to home school their child is less important than what that child objectively needs: 

A new Illinois bill aims to add some oversight of families who homeschool their children, a response to concerns that the state does little to ensure these students receive an education and are protected from harm.

The measure, known as the Homeschool Act, comes after an investigation by Capitol News Illinois and ProPublica last year found that Illinois is among a small number of states that place virtually no rules on parents who homeschool their children. Parents don’t have to register with any state agency or school district, and authorities cannot compel them to track attendance, demonstrate their teaching methods or show student progress.

Under the new bill, families would be required to tell their school districts when they decide to homeschool their children, and the parents or guardians would need to have a high school diploma or equivalent. If education authorities have concerns that children are receiving inadequate schooling, they could require parents to share evidence of teaching materials and student work.

………

The investigation documented the case of L.J., a 9-year-old whose parents decided to homeschool him after he missed so much school that he faced the prospect of repeating third grade. He told child welfare authorities that he was beaten and denied food for several years while out of public school and that he received almost no education. In December 2022, on L.J.’s 11th birthday, the state took custody of him and his younger siblings; soon after, he was enrolled in public school.

This is the problem with many, though obviously not all, home schooling advocates.

They do not see their children as their responsibility, they see their children as their property. 

F%$# that and f%$# those abusive parents.

Yeah, This Has "Dystopian Young Adult Novel" Written All Over It

It looks like a group of tech bros are trying to convince Trump and his Evil Minions™ to give them a license to create lawless corporate cities.

You know, the sort of corporate run arcologies that feature prominently in the genre of Cyberpunk:

Several groups representing “startup nations”—tech hubs exempt from the taxes and regulations that apply to the countries where they are located—are drafting Congressional legislation to create “freedom cities” in the US that would be similarly free from certain federal laws, WIRED has learned.

According to interviews and presentations viewed by WIRED, the goal of these cities would be to have places where anti-aging clinical trials, nuclear reactor startups, and building construction can proceed without having to get prior approval from agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

So, basically these dudes want to be able to operate recklessly with nuclear power, potentially irradiating the surrounding areas, conduct medically dubious experiments on live human beings, and pollute our water and our air.

This is Nazis with nukes.

………

But Gil Duran, a former political consultant and author of the Substack newsletter Nerd Reich, warns that building new cities from scratch could have negative consequences. “To be outside of the law and above the law, what does that mean for the rest of the country?” he asks. “It seems like you're going to start hollowing out other places in order to have these places where the rules are suspended and don't apply anymore to certain people.” 

………

But Duran says that the same deregulation that could be seen as pro-business will likely not favor those outside Freedom Cities’ ultrawealthy backers. “These are going to be cities without democracy,” he claims. “These are going to be cities without workers' rights. These are going to be cities where the owners of the city, the corporations, the billionaires have all the power and everyone else has no power. That's what's so attractive about these sovereign entities to these people, is that they will actually be anti-freedom cities.”

These people all think that they are the character John Galt from the Ayn Rand novel Atlas Shrugged when in fact they are all people who feed the bears and destroy the town.

This has been tried many times, and in many places, and they have all failed, with the majority of attempts never constructing much of anything besides fraud.

I F%$#ing Hate F%$#ing Daylight F%$#ing Savings F%$#ing Time

Just a reminder, at 2:00 am Sunday morning, it becomes 3:00 am, and we all have to get up an hour earlier.

This sucks wet farts from dead pigeons.

I Saw a Play Tonight

I saw Art at the Vagabond Theater which my eldest, NJ is stage managing.

It is a rather humorous look at friendship, art, and pretension.

It is also the most French play that I have ever seen. (This is meant as a compliment)

If you see the play know that the exchange rate between the $US and ₣Fr is about 7 to 1.

It was a good play and a good production.

Goodbye Old Friend

Da Gnu Car Front


Da Gnu Car Side


Da Gnu Car Rear You may recall that I mentioned that I was busy on Friday.

I was buying a new car, a 2025 Prius LE, the first ever gnu car that I have purchased.

It took about 5 hours, and many, MANY, signatures.  (I got so punchy midway through that Ithink that I signed the toilet paper when I took a bathroom break.

At 20 years old and 378K miles my old 2004 Prius was simply falling apart.

I know that buying a new car is not smart, but the relative cost of new cars vs used cars has been insane since the start of the pandemic, and I wanted to own a gnu car. 

That being said, I feel sad about getting rid of the old 2004 Prius.  I got it in  2016 with 175K on the Odometer, and really enjoyed it. 

It was my mid-life crisis car, which makes me the dullest mother f%$#er on the fucking planet. 

The gnu car is better in almost every way, fuel economy, handling, performance, but getting rid of my mid-life crisis car, I am acknowledging that I have aged out of being middle aged.

I should note here that "Gnu" is not a name for the car, it is an adjective describing my car.  

I do not name my cars.

It simply means that my car is not Unix. (Not my joke)

I'm Not Dead

Yes, I know, I missed a day, for the first time in about 4 years.

I had a VERY busy Friday.

More later.

Maybe They Don't Like the Roach Motel Model of Defense Procurement

Lockheed-Martin's F-35 Business Model

It appears that Lockheed-Martin has been removed from the running for the US Navy's next generation fighter.

My guess would be is that the US Navy has not been satisfied with the F-35, and I don't think that it has much to do with aerodynamic performance, but the fact that Lockheed developed a system where it is impossible for a military service to operate the aircraft on its own.

There is a web of IP and software that requires the aircraft to phone home on a daily basis, and much of the work can only be done by L-M, all while the defense contractor collects its vig.

This sucks for the taxpayer, but it sucks even worse for the Navy, where they may be operating in the middle of nowhere, and they have to wait for an overpriced Lockheed technician to fly out to fix this.

This is a John Deere tractor on an aircraft carrier 1000 miles from land. 

I would note that this is just supposition on my part, but it seems to me to be the most likely reason for this decision, particularly since Lockheed still appears to be in the running for the USAF's next fighter aircraft:

Lockheed Martin is out of the running for the Navy’s sixth-generation fighter jet program, known as Next Generation Air Dominance or F/A-XX, Breaking Defense has learned.

A source with knowledge of the program told Breaking Defense that Lockheed submitted a bid to the Navy, but the proposal did not satisfy the service’s criteria. The company is now no longer proceeding with the bid. The Navy previously told Breaking Defense in November that the service was evaluating proposals, but it is unclear when Lockheed was knocked out of the competition. 

………

Lockheed, which cornered the market on fifth-generation fighters through its ubiquitous F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the F-22 Raptor, still has a shot to build a sixth-generation jet through the Air Force’s separate fighter competition, also known as Next Generation Air Dominance, where the company is facing off against Boeing. 

It is possible that the Navy lacked confidence in L-M's ability to smoothly integrate their new aircraft onto a carrier deck, there were problems with both the F-35 and the S-3 in this regard.

Given the history of Boeing (McDonnell-Douglas) and Northrop (Grumman), the USN may be more confident in the ability of these companies to execute, but given the stress that the Navy is placing on open architecture, my guess is that operational autonomy is what is driving this decision.

Today in FAFO

🧐 https://t.co/8fUHfVNFWm

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 23, 2025

Calling a business partner mob connected?
Not a good look

It appears that theApartheid Era Emerald Heir Pedo Guy™  got his bigotry on recently and shared a post on Ecch (Twitter) that accused Mexican telecom billionauire Carlos Slim of being controlled by the various drug cartels.

Slim canceled a $7 billion deal that was in the works in response. 

It's been clear for at least a few months that Slim was not enamored of placing his eggs for communications expansion in Latin America in Musk's basket, we've had reports that he was hedging his bets because he did not trust Musk to deliver.

Muks's inability not to be a racist just cost him somewhere between $7 and &22 billion in revenue, and a market opening in 20 some odd countries:

President Donald Trump’s negative comments on Mexico, endorsed by Elon Musk, seems to have upset Carlos Slim, one of the richest people in the world and who heads up Mexico’s América Móvil telco. Slim has reportedly decided to cancel his collaboration with Musk’s Starlink.

Slim’s company, América Móvil, had previously announced plans to invest $22 billion (€21.2bn) over the next three years to enhance its telecommunications infrastructure, but had mentioned both Starlink and AST SpaceMobile as potential partners.

Local reports say that the fallout between Slim and Musk was further exacerbated by a controversial tweet from Musk, which implied connections between Slim and organised crime. This unproven accusation added fuel to the already strained relationship between the two business tycoons.

However, within an hour or two of the allegations made against him from Musk, Slim announced that he would transfer his projects for the next five years – initially with Starlink, say reports – and representing an investment of $22 billion, to AST SpaceMobile as well as companies in China and Europe.

While Mr. Slim may be pissed off, I do not think that this is why he canceled the contract.

I think that he realized that Elon Musk was incapable of being a reliable business partner. (and a f%$#ing moron as well)

Being a ketamine addled racist is just not good for business.

It's Thursday ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Federal Workers Unemployment Filings


Note the spike in planned layoffsInterestingly enough, initial unemployment claims actually fell more than forecast, falling by 21,000 to 221,000 as versus a forecast of 235,000.

Meanwhile, continuing claims rose by 42 K to a seasonally adjusted 1.897 million, and total planned layoffs in the federal government in 2025 is now 1,000 times what it was at this point last year. (No, I am not misplacing a decimal point.)

I don't know what the February job report will look like, we'll find out tomorrow, but March is going to be a blood bath:

The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, suggesting that the labor market remained stable in February, though turbulence lies ahead from tariffs on imports and deep government spending cuts.

That was flagged by other data on Thursday showing layoffs announced by U.S.-based employers jumped in February to levels not seen since the last two recessions amid mass federal government job cuts, canceled contracts and fears of trade wars. 

………

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 221,000 for the week ended March 1, the Labor Department said. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 235,000 claims for the latest week.

The decline reversed the prior week's surge, which had lifted claims to a two-month high and was blamed on snowstorms and difficulties adjusting the data for seasonal fluctuations around the Presidents Day holiday.

A separate unemployment compensation for federal employees (UCFE) program, which is reported with a one-week lag, showed applications rising to a four-year high of 1,634 from only 614 during the week ending February 15. 

………

Global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said it had tracked 62,242 announced job cuts by the federal government from 17 different agencies in February. Most of the layoffs have been in Washington D.C., which has lost 61,795 jobs so far this year compared to only 60 in 2024.

Contractors have also been caught in the DOGE crossfire, extending the job losses to the private sector.
Challenger said the "DOGE impact" was blamed for 63,583 of the announced 172,017 layoffs last month.

………

The number of people receiving benefits after an initial week of aid, a proxy for hiring, advanced 42,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.897 million during the week ending February 22, the claims report showed.

We are f%$#ed. 

The only question is whether we see it this Friday, or on April 4.

Vichy Dems

So, the House of Representatives has voted to censure Al Green (D-TX) for heckling Donald Trump during his "Hate of the Union" speech.

This really is no surprise.  Despite the fact that his heckling was milder than those done by Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Bobert or Joe Wilson, none of which resulted in censures. (Wilson was reprimanded though)

There was no removal of committee assignments or seniority though, so it means very little.

That, and $29.76 will get you a Starbucks trenta vanilla sweet cream cold brew with two pumps of vanilla, three pumps of caramel syrup, two pumps of cinnamon dolce syrup, two pumps of hazelnut, two pumps of toffee nut syrup, two pumps of mocha, two pumps of white mocha, two pumps of pumpkin sauce, three pumps of maple pecan syrup, and five shots of espresso. 

What is of note is that 10 "Democratic" members of Congress, 9 of which were faux ConservaDems, voted in support of the censure.  (The Remaining one is a real WTF moment.) 

Sorry, but no.  You don't play along with bullsh%$ Republican theatrics.

If you live in their districts, seriously consider primarying them. 

To the degree that I know these all of these folks political careers (except for Marcy) they are corrupt SoBs in the thrall or large campaign donors and lobbyists.

Getting rid of them would be a good thing for the party and the country.

Vichy Congressman	District	Quisling Caucus Memberships
Ami Bera	CA-6	New Democrat Coalition
Ed Case	HI-1	New Democrat Coalition Blue Dog Coalition
Jim Costa	CA-21	Blue Dog Coalition New Democrat Coalition Problem Solvers Caucus
Laura Gillen	NY-4	New Democrat Coalition
Jim Himes	CT-4	New Democrat Coalition
Chrissy Houlahan	PA-6	New Democrat Coalition Problem Solvers Caucus
Marcy Kaptur	OH-9	What the F%$# Marcy? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Jared Moskowitz	FL-32	New Democrat Coalition
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez	WA-3	Blue Dog Coalition Problem Solvers Caucus
Tom Suozzi	NY-3	New Democrat Coalition Problem Solvers Caucus