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Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

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A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Cancelled

Cancelled

by | 140 Comments

This post is in: 

Yesterday, the Verge broke the news that a group of SpaceX employees had sent an open letter on an internal chat channel, calling out the behavior of founder Elon Musk. Key content:

SpaceX’s current systems and culture do not live up to its stated values, as many employees continue to experience unequal enforcement of our oft-repeated “No Asshole” and “Zero Tolerance” policies. This must change. As a starting point, we are putting forth the following categories of action items, the specifics of which we would like to discuss in person with the executive team within a month:

Publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful Twitter behavior. SpaceX must swiftly and explicitly separate itself from Elon’s personal brand.

Hold all leadership equally accountable to making SpaceX a great place to work for everyone. Apply a critical eye to issues that prevent employees from fully performing their jobs and meeting their potential, pursuing specific and enduring actions that are well resourced, transparent, and treated with the same rigor and urgency as establishing flight rationale after a hardware anomaly.

Define and uniformly respond to all forms of unacceptable behavior. Clearly define what exactly is intended by SpaceX’s “no-asshole” and “zero tolerance” policies and enforce them consistently. SpaceX must establish safe avenues for reporting and uphold clear repercussions for all unacceptable behavior, whether from the CEO or an employee starting their first day.

Today, Elon responded:

SpaceX has fired a number of employees who wrote and shared a letter criticizing the behavior of CEO Elon Musk, with the company’s president criticizing the letter as “overreaching activism.”

The “No Asshole” policy clearly doesn’t apply to at least one asshole at SpaceX, but at least there’s “Zero Tolerance” for anyone criticizing their glass-jawed manbaby founder.

Reader Interactions

140Comments

  1. 1.

    Alison Rose

    The very idea that a company owned by the biggest horse’s ass on three continents (to paraphrase Field of Dreams) would have a “No Asshole” policy is………..special.

  2. 2.

    Chief Oshkosh

    My wife and I are set to buy new cars next year. We both want electric cars. Elon is helping us make our buying decision.

  3. 3.

    West of the Rockies

    Musk is sort of another Theil.  Ugh.  His veneer of open-minded visionary has been shredded.

  4. 4.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Chief Oshkosh: Go Volvo, man. I used to want a Tesla a few years ago, but now I’m looking at environmentally conscious companies and Volvo seems to have their heart in it.

    Also, Elon Musk is a fuckwad’s jackass. Which is to say: Enormous asshat and I don’t want anything to do with him.

  5. 5.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    Ah, so Mr. Free Speech considers criticism of himself to be “overreaching activism”. How convenient for him. And hypocritical. I’m suddenly reminded of the standard response of righty tighty “free speech anti-cancel culture warriors” to why the blacklisting of Colin Kapernick wasn’t cancel culture: “That’s different, people just want to watch football, and here’s a video where a black person agrees with me.”

    And I thought that Twitter deal was supposed to be dead, but I’m reading a headline in the WSJ that he met with top company leadership recently.

  7. 7.

    Baud

    treated with the same rigor and urgency as establishing flight rationale after a hardware anomaly.

    I assume they don’t follow the Tesla model.

  8. 8.

    J R in WV

    Somehow nothing Elon Musk ever does or says can improve my opinion of him. It only goes down, down, down, whenever he opens his mouth or fires people who criticize him.

    “No Assholes” policy? Right? Right!!!

  14. 14.

    jonas

    My next car in a couple of years, fsm willing, will be an F150 Lightning. Hard pass on Tesla.

  15. 15.

    Dangerman

    What a prick (obvious since he has a pile of kids; what do women see in that asshole?).

    I guess cancel culture is suddenly OK.

  16. 16.

    CaseyL

    I’m not looking to get rid of my Scion in the near future – mostly because I can’t afford to – but when I do look for a new-ish vehicle, it’ll probably either be a Chevy Bolt or an F150 Lightning.

    (The Lightning might win if I’m serious about getting an RV post-retirement and traveling the country.)

    Tesla is not in the running at all, for reasons I’ve stated many times – and Musk-being-a-Fascist-Asshole is only the latest one of them.

  17. 17.

    Mai Naem mobile

    I was driving next to a Hyundai Ioniq and it looked like a nice car. I am also impressed with the MachE and the VW. I’ve also seen a Rivian which is very cartoon space agey looking. I am waiting to see what the Nissan Aria turns out like. Its supposedly the same size as a Rogue which sounds like a decent size. My neighbor has a Tesla which he’s happy with but if I was spending that kind of money I would buy a Jaguar 1Pace.

  19. 19.

    J R in WV

    @cain:

    I plan on getting a used Tesla

    You might want to look at the repair parts availability, down time reports for repairs, etc. before jumping into the used Tesla market.

    Is there a network to distribute Tesla parts, where are Tesla repair facilities, like a Ford dealership, etc?

  20. 20.

    Splitting Image

    Musk reminds me more and more of Dov Charney, the founder of American Apparel.

    One of the good things AA did when it started out was commit to using union labour and making clothes inside the U.S.A. This made them more expensive than some other brands relative to their quality, but there was some good logic behind what they were doing. It made people want them to succeed, even if they didn’t like the exact look that AA was going for.

    Charney eventually became better known as a creeper who loved sexualizing teenage girls in the company’s ads and harassing young women who worked for the company. Turns out that the typical consumers of American Apparel’s products (women) disliked sex pests more than they liked union labour and turned their backs on the brand. Bankruptcy soon followed.

    Musk is wealthier than Charney, so it will take longer for him to go down, but he’s following the same trajectory.

  22. 22.

    Benw

    @MisterForkbeard: same. Couple years ago we were pretty certain our next EV would be a Tesla when our Leaf got too old. Nope. Now we’ll probably get a newer model Leaf.

  23. 23.

    Kay

    @raven: 

    That’s great. UPS is a well run company. If they’re investing in the Tevva trucks you’re safe to follow.

  25. 25.

    FlyingToaster

    In February I traded in the venerable Toyota Sienna Limited AWD on a brand new Toyota Sienna Limited Hybrid AWD.  Went from 11 mpg to 31mpg, all city driving.  Even with gas prices going way, way up, I’m spending less $ per month than before.

    I went with hybrid rather than electric because the Pacifica is the only plug-in hybrid right now, and I don’t find its cabin as useful to me.  I tend to have to haul middle high schoolers with musical instruments (WarriorTeen and their compatriots); the middle row captain’s seats are a lot more comfortable than the fold-down style in the Chrysler.

    The only thing that’s truly a pain in the ass is the fold-down third row pops up when you hit one of our potholes (well, Watertown MA is basically under construction, all the damn time).  I’ll see if they can tighten the hinges or latch (whatever the fuck the new mechanism is) after we move in a couple months.

  26. 26.

    VOR

    I looked hard at the Volkswagen ID.4 but it had nearly a 12 month waitlist. The Ford F-150 Lightning looks amazing, except for the multi-year backlog. Seriously, their original plan was 40k units per year and at one point they had 250k reservations. They decided to increase production to 80k units per year so only (!) a 3 year backlog. The Mustang Mach-E looks nice except those door handles are a deal breaker. At the time I was looking the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 were not available in the US.
    One good thing for Tesla is not relying on dealers. The Auto Dealers group in my state has been lobbying against EV-friendly policies. There are horror stories of dealers adding “market rate adjustments” onto EVs and other hot cars at the last minute.

  27. 27.

    Kay

    @raven:

    They do “last mile delivery” for the postal service and I was just always impressed with their managers. Drivers too- they pay them well and it shows – but it was just seamless. They’re serious people, unlike this Twitter joker. I’d buy anything they’re buying.

  30. 30.

    raven

    @Kay:  I ordered some really dumb stuff for my truck from a company in Long Beach. I decided to simply refuse the shipment and, when it came today, the carrier said “I don’t know how to do that”! She seemed sincere even though the process is easy to find, you don’t open it and write “refused” on it! I took it to the main post office and told the lady what the carrier said and she said “What, know how to do what? You bring it back to the post office”!!! It always reminds me how lucky I was to get fired from the Post Office after 5 months!

  31. 31.

    Roger Moore

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): 

    And I thought that Twitter deal was supposed to be dead, but I’m reading a headline in the WSJ that he met with top company leadership recently.

    My understanding is that the agreement is really unfavorable to Musk. There’s supposed to be a specific performance clause, i.e. they can force him to buy even if he has second thoughts. The more the stock value slides, the more the board wants to force him to buy at the promised price, since they’re unlikely to get such a great offer again.

  32. 32.

    Immanentize

    Many things can be true at once:
    — Last we discussed it, my son was a Tesla/Musk fan largely because of tech innovation.
    — we both think he is a jerk
    — as a lawyer, I think that letter was an attempt at collective labor action and will require serious cash payouts (but Steve in EscortLuv would have a more nuanced take).

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    ‘@raven

    Maximum speed limit anywhere of Maui is 55..And that for not very many miles.

    Just sayin.’   :)

  34. 34.

    ant

    he has anti-social personality disorder.

     

    behaviors

     

    1. prolific lier

    2. grifting scam artist.

    3. never holds up their end of expectations

    4. opposed to all collective action problem solving.

    5. crippled ability to learn from their mistakes/accept responsibility.

     

    The root of all this is the inability to feel guilt/remorse/sorrow/grief as emotions.

    Having these types of people make important decisions that effect other people is an obvious mistake. They belong locked up with their own kind.

  35. 35.

    Ohio Mom

    People on the autism spectrum tend to take things very literally and be rather rule-bound. And the stereotype is true, the tech sector has a disproportionate number of people with autistic tendencies.

    I am imagining a group of such fellows saying, “Hey, we are told this place has a No Asshole policy and that this policy applies to everyone. And yet, there are assholes among us. The rule is being broken. We must fix this!”

    As I often tell Ohio Son, Mistakes are how we learn.

  36. 36.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    I love my 2020 Nissan Leaf.

    Grateful not to be a Tesla or SpaceX (or Twitter) employee. The tech corporation where I work has public goals to be the wokest in the world, and our humble CEO rose through the ranks over 30 years, after starting as an intern. Refreshing.

  37. 37.

    Salty Sam

    It’s amazing how Musk has trashed his own personal brand so quickly. I was catching up on Star Trek Discovery recently- there was a scene where someone was on the verge of a great scientific breakthrough, and another character exclaimed, “If you can make this work, you’ll go down in history with Sir Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Elon Musk, and Ephraim Cockrane!” I just groaned and eyerolled. This was only produced a few years ago.

  38. 38.

    Immanentize

    @raven:

    The only decent thing I did
    When I worked as a postal clerk,
    Was to haul your picture off the wall
    Near the cage where I used to work.
    Was I a fool or not to protect your real identity?
    You looked a little burned out, my friend,
    I thought it was up to me.

  39. 39.

    Kay

    @raven: 

    Oh, some of them are bad. I had a “casual” carrier on Saturdays (as opposed to “career” ) and I would have to basically talk her into taking the mail. She’d be on her way out and I’d check her sorting box and she wasn’t taking all of it. Our conversations were like “Barb, you have to deliver the mail- all of it”. She just hated me.

  40. 40.

    David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch

    @raven:  what “dumb stuff” did you order? A lift kit? Fog lights? A toy dog that nods his head for the dashboard?

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    ‘@MisterForkbeard

    Will Volvo be uprooted lock, stock and gravlax to China? Magic 8-ball sez: Outlook hazy, check back later. (NYT link.)

    Fears for Volvo Expose Sour Turn in Sweden’s Ties With China

    When a Chinese manufacturer swept in to save the Swedish car marque, it was warmly welcomed. A decade later, plans for a fuller merger are being debated in a frostier atmosphere.

  44. 44.

    Raven

    @David ☘The Establishment☘ Koch: My truck has a huge back window and, with stainless toolbox, the sun is a killer. I have considered window tint but I saw these cool looking Venetian blinds for vintage cars and trucks.   https://www.autovenetianblinds.com/

    Well, they are really pricey and then I looked at  a YouTube about them and the dudes say you can’t run over 30mph with the windows down! My 66 Chev doesn’t have AC so that was a deal breaker.

  49. 49.

    ant

    A good example with this asswipe.

    Remember when his busted that window on stage – in front of god and everybody in the whole world?

    A normal person would have felt like they fucked up when they did that. But not Elon. In Elon’s world, he never felt regret from his actions in his whole life. So he went and busted ANOTHER window.

    Same thing when was teasing his high school mate for having a dead father. Elon doesn’t know what grief feels like, so he does not know not laugh at someone else who is feeling it.

     

    @ant: 5. crippled ability to learn from their mistakes/accept responsibility.

  50. 50.

    Martin

    I love my eBike. So far eBikes have displaced about 6x as much fossil fuel as electric cars/trucks. BEVs unfortunately don’t cut emissions enough, in part because they are so much heavier.

    The ProPublica piece on supply chain costs is excellent.

    In short, the global supply chain is like a game of musical chairs. There’s not enough resting space for all of the worlds containers, so we are reliant on a certain amount of them always being in motion. As soon as the music changes (Covid increasing/decreasing shipping demand, etc.) if the flow of containers (particularly empty containers) changes, there’s no place to put down empties in order to pick up fulls, or place to offload fulls because of empties, etc. So everyone started charging everyone else to solve the problem as a set of financial penalties to incentivize the system to work more smoothly, without actually addressing the underlying problem. It just turns into gridlock.

  51. 51.

    Redshift

    I think I saw another thing reported that Musk was claiming that it wasn’t because they criticized him, it was because unnamed other “people” felt bullied and intimidated by the letter.

  52. 52.

    Hob

    @Dog Dawg Damn:  Well, kind of. That is– I don’t know the details of how things are run at SpaceX. But I do know that it’s possible for standards of conduct in engineering teams to make a huge difference even if those standards clearly aren’t being applied to high-level executives. If I had to choose between a company where the owner/CEO is awful but the engineers are good to work with, versus the opposite, I would pick the former every time because normally the CEO would have less of an immediate effect on my daily life and on the quality of the work. And it sounds like SpaceX has managed to attract a fair number of people who feel the same, and that’s probably helped the quality of their product. If their teams were used to dealing with assholes all around them, I don’t think that that open letter would have happened.

    In other words, even though there’s plenty of hypocrisy in how this is applied in many places, I disagree that the idea is fundamentally wrong, or that it can’t have been helpful at SpaceX simply because Musk is an asshole.

  53. 53.

    Ruckus

    @J R in WV: 
    When the boss is the biggest asshole in the room, is there any doubt that he wouldn’t want competition? He wants his assholyness to be easy, to roll off his tongue, to be natural. It’s not fair if he has to compete for any level of assholyness, he is the supreme asshole wherever he wants to be, just ask him. If you don’t mind speaking to an asshole.

  55. 55.

    ColoradoGuy

    Thoughts on second-hand EVs and hybrids (2008 Prius owner here): If buying second-hand, you should factor in the cost of a battery replacement. This is about $5,000 for a (nickel-metal-hydride) Prius battery, and about $30,000 for a (lithium-ion) Tesla battery pack.

    My own Prius has been garaged when not in use, so the battery has been protected from temperature extremes (which kills batteries fast). So I’ve probably got another 50K in the NiMH battery pack I have now. But … if I was buying a Prius or Tesla or Leaf used, I don’t know where it was parked. Was it baked in the heat in Phoenix, or driven in a mountain town and parked outside on a freezing night? That’s what affects battery life. It’s also why the battery pack is placed in a temperature-controlled location in the car, with fan-boosted circulation.

  56. 56.

    skerry

    I saw a Rivian truck today. Nice looking vehicle. My next car will be electric, but I don’t need anything like the Rivian.

  58. 58.

    Ruckus

    @Mai Naem mobile:

    Unless Jaguar 1Pace has changed, they are not very efficient. There are far better electric vehicles out there, with some strikingly good looking new models arriving within the next 12 months.

    The ones you named in your first sentence are pretty good.

    There are commenters here that have some of them.

  59. 59.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Omnes Omnibus:  I saw a Polestar 1 when I went to my local Ford/Mazda/Volvo dealer for maintenance. That car is fucking gorgeous. Also not affordable in this lifetime.

  61. 61.

    El Muneco

    @Dog Dawg Damn: The secret to hiring for culture values is the same as the secret to exercising and the secret to staying sober.

    Never _ever_ make a single exception.

  63. 63.

    StringOnAStick

    @ColoradoGuy: I have a 2007 Prius given to me by my late BIL.  He was meticulous about cars but this one did sit outside at work in MI winters though we’ve kept it garaged.  I have noticed it no longer gets over 48 mph and 53 was typical when we got it 6 years ago.  I didn’t know about the need to keep it from temperature extremes, so that is useful information; thank you.

  64. 64.

    Hob

    @Calouste: In terms of tech companies at least, I don’t think you can generalize like that. It’s easy to have no policy and have many assholes. Or, have no policy but have a better management culture because that’s just how things developed there, so, few assholes. Or, a nominal policy that’s not enforced, so, many assholes. Or, a policy that is taken seriously. I’ve worked at all of those. I do think that even a nominal policy that’s not well enforced can at least weed out the subset of assholes who regard any kind of code of conduct at all as an illegitimate outrage.

  66. 66.

    Baud

    On a related issue of equal seriousness, what’s the consensus: canceled or cancelled?

  67. 67.

    Gin & Tonic

    @raven:

    and got 50mpg on our road trip last week

    I got over 40 mpg in the Miata, and , uhm, may have been over 60 mph.

  68. 68.

    ColoradoGuy

    I should add that EVs and hybrids also have conventional 12V batteries, in order to run the many computers and accessories like radios, etc. These 12V batteries are often placed in out of the way locations, and forgotten about until they fail. And the car won’t start. At all. That’s when you watch the YouTube to find out where the 12V battery is hidden. Even more fun when it is in an electrically locked rear hatch.

  69. 69.

    Roger Moore

    @Calouste: 
    “No assholes” is a terrible policy. It will work OK if the vast majority of people are basically good, so everyone can spot the rare asshole when they show themselves. But the places probably don’t need a policy. In the more common case of a workplace that has a mix of people, there’s no such agreement. The assholes can hide behind legalism and argue about whether what they did actually constitutes being an asshole.
    What you really need are policies that spell out specific unacceptable behavior. It’s much complicated- you’ll need to have comprehensive lists of prohibited behavior- but it’s much more clear-cut whether people are breaking the rules. Of course that’s precisely what assholes want to avoid. They love the “no assholes” rule because they can always argue no matter what they’ve done.

  71. 71.

    The Lodger

    @Hob: Yep, I was at AT&T a couple years after the split from the Bell System and the organization was so big that the number of assholes in top management just didn’t matter as long as your (internal) clients and the people in your department were OK.

  72. 72.

    Baud

    @Alison Rose :

    The very idea that a company owned by the biggest horse’s ass on three continents (to paraphrase Field of Dreams) would have a “No Asshole” policy is………..special

     

    It’s actually a No Assholes Policy, so they are allowed to have one.

  74. 74.

    germy shoemangler

    “If you want to know what God thinks of money, just look at the people he gave it to.”
    – Dorothy Parker

  75. 75.

    Poe Larity

    he has anti-social personality disorder

    So your Martian grankids will get beat up for being intolerant of sociopaths.

    Is there a relevant Star Trek episode?

  76. 76.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    I know and I don’t disagree. AP updated the rule not so long ago. I got dinged for not using two l’s in cancellation, so it’s seared in my brain.

  78. 78.

    germy shoemangler

    @debbie:

    I almost have to admire the way the New Yorker sticks to “focussed” as their correct spelling.

  84. 84.

    ColoradoGuy

    Batteries (of all kinds) are nearly as temperature sensitive as living biological organisms. They need to be babied for maximum life … current-limited when charged, cells kept at near-identical charge, max discharge should never approach zero, etc. etc. Smart controllers monitor all aspects of the cell array, including local temp sensors. And lithium ion tech is capable of intense combustion (with its own oxidizer) if the cells are mismanaged.

  89. 89.

    Steeplejack

    @Baud:

    Canceled. The old copy editor’s metric is one [consonant in doubt] unless the base word’s accent is on the last syllable—repelled, entrapped—or the one-consonant version would lead to visual confusion. So worshipped rather than worshiped, because -shiped suggests a long i, at least for a moment.

    Cancelled and all of the two-consonant versions are much more common in British English.

    ETA: Compelled, because of the accented second syllable. And, this being the mongrel language English we’re talking about, there are a lot of exceptions and one-offs.

    This discussion could degenerate quickly.

  90. 90.

    germy shoemangler

    @debbie:

    Many years ago I read Thurber’s “The Years With Ross” and Brendan Gill’s “Here At The New Yorker” and it seems it’s always been a strange place.

    I dealt with some of their editors about ten years ago and I found the experience unpleasant.

  91. 91.

    Baud

    @Steeplejack:

    You are very smart.

    ETA

    Cancelled and all of the two-consonant versions are much more common in British English.

     

    Or as Tony Jay would call it, English.

  93. 93.

    Old School

    @debbie: 

    I’ve told people over the years: “Sure, you could spell ‘canceled’ with two L’s, but then you’d also to to throw lots of extra U’s in other words.”

  94. 94.

    Captain C

    @Baud: I once saw a British comic on some late night show say, “People here say they love my accent.  I tell them, ‘No, this is what English words sound like when you pronounce them properly.'”

  95. 95.

    Kent

    @Chief Oshkosh: My wife and I are set to buy new cars next year. We both want electric cars. Elon is helping us make our buying decision.

    I’m waiting on the new Nissan Ariya.

    I’m not opposed to Tesla but both Elon and all the rabid Tesla Fanboy nonsense has soured me on Tesla.  There are a LOT of them around here and most of the owners I meet tend to be Scott Adams types (of Dilbert)

    I’m currently driving a 2016 Prius which still has a lot of life left in it but has been something of an expensive hassle due to a heat exchanger issue that is problematic with these cars.  It will most certainly be my last ICE car ever.

  96. 96.

    germy shoemangler

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – Deep-seated conspiracy theories about the security of voting machines erupted into heated, angry and at times threatening outbursts Friday as New Mexico counties decided whether to certify results from their recent primary, underscoring the depths of an election crisis that officials fear is foreshadowing darker times ahead for the nation’s democracy.

    In one politically conservative county, angry residents greeted their three commissioners with screams and vitriol as they met to consider certification. As the visibly frustrated Torrance County commissioners indicated they were going to vote to certify their election, the audience shouted “Shame on you,” “cowards and traitors,” and “Who elected you?”

    https://wnyt.com/news/deadline-looms-as-election-crisis-in-new-mexico-intensifies/6502390/?cat=661

    When does the fever break? I used to think it would, but now? Not so sure.

  98. 98.

    Gin & Tonic

    A bit of sort-of respite?

    A duet in the trenches pic.twitter.com/zn7EhM7Vvg— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) June 17, 2022

    The loading of the clip/magazine while singing is what gets to me.

    No, I’m not going to provide a transcript. The words aren’t as important as the spirit.

  103. 103.

    eversor

    Not in the market for an electric car but am for a hybrid.  Waiting for the 2023 Honda Civic hybrid which is what I’m going to buy with all the extras.   Electric won’t work because the SO…. her family has a bunch of right wingers out in bumfuck Pensiltucky and I’d want the gas.  She wants a Toyata Rav 4 hybrid and while I’m open to it I keep pointing out she can’t park to save her life* and given living in the DC area that’s a huge issue from time to time with a large car.  We both want in blue though, so progress!

     

    *She’s so bad at it someone wrote a note and put it under the wiper that said “the way you pulled in makes me wish your dad pulled out” when we were at COSTCO Pentagon City.   We both laughed and she fully admits she’s one of the reasons why people hate Asian drivers.  She’s also somehow gotten in three accidents in the past six months and refuses to wear contacts or glasses while driving.   I drive like a maniac but good lord she scares the hell out of me.  No glasses, texting, putting on make up, while talking to someone on 495/395.

     

    As for Tesla, it’s not Musk I couldn’t care less about him it’s that they aren’t safe.  The auto pilot cuts out one second before an impact so he can’t be sued which kills people.   The batteries explode and you can’t put that fire out easy, which will a problem with all electrics theirs blow up a lot.   Credit where credit is due he kicked the industry into high gear but it’s a vehicle riddled with bugs and issues.  That’s fine when MS screws up your backups or apple fouls up your iphone, your Tesla has an issue and you’re dead!   A friend has one and it’s nice, I just don’t trust them yet.

  105. 105.

    debbie

    The leader of the Patriot Front is a bigger whiner than Peter Navarro. He just wasn’t treated like he thought he should be!

    Leader of Patriot Front crying about mistreatment after their arrest: “They didn’t even give us shoes! We were barefoot but still in uniform in cells .. It took them 12 hours before even beginning the booking process .. Camera, digital devices, money was seized with no recourse.” pic.twitter.com/BUV0idl1jr
    — Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) June 17, 2022

    They held his property for hours!

  108. 108.

    azlib

    @ColoradoGuy:

     

    I should add that EVs and hybrids also have conventional 12V batteries, in order to run the many computers and accessories like radios, etc. These 12V batteries are often placed in out of the way locations, and forgotten about until they fail. And the car won’t start. At all. That’s when you watch the YouTube to find out where the 12V battery is hidden. Even more fun when it is in an electrically locked rear hatch.

    Yep, I had the 12v battery go out last year in my 2012 Prius C. The battery is under the rear seat and the user manual tells you where it is. Fortunately, you can jump the vehicle to get it going. The battery is a gel cell battery which needs no maintenanc. It just dies. I got nearly 10 years out of it in AZ where it is hot. It was fun getting the battery out and replacing it, but it was not too difficult.

  109. 109.

    Scout211

    @germy shoemangler:

    And one of those commissioners, Couy Griffin, was sentenced today for his role in the January 6th insurrection

    In fact, the vote today was 2-1 (after being ordered by the NM Supreme Court to certify the results:  Griffin voted no.

    CNN)Couy Griffin, a New Mexico county commissioner, ardent election-fraud conspiracy theorist and founder of “Cowboys for Trump,” avoided more jail time on Friday for his role in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack.
    He was sentenced to 14 days with time served, fined $3,000 and given one year supervised release with the requirement that he complete 60 hours of community service.
    Griffin was videotaped at the Capitol saying he “has Mike Pence in our prayers” and hoped that Pence would “do the right thing” and argued during his trial that he was peaceful on January 6 and even calmed a group of rioters by leading them in prayer.
    Griffin, an Otero county commissioner, is still relentlessly pushing claims of election fraud, going as far as refusing to certify the recent primary results in his county, which the Justice Department cited to bolster its argument that Griffin should spend several months in jail.

  110. 110.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @ColoradoGuy: Came home from a vacation to a dead Prius in the garage…couldn’t even inside the car for a while. 3 years later, with the car not being driven enough because of Covid, the 12v wore down, and died in a few inconvenient places. Hybrids and electric cars are really fine but they have lots of oddities.

  112. 112.

    eversor

    @debbie:

    I’m always amazed these dipshits are shocked, SHOCKED, SHOCKED! as to what jail is like.  A lot of the guys I know, me included, have spent a night or two in clink after doing something dumb.  I think everyone knows someone who’s done it at least once, if not a couple who’ve done it a few times.

    Most people don’t yowl like scalded ferrets about it though.  And most people know they take your shit and your shoes or at least the laces.

  113. 113.

    jnfr

    I know folks who have Kias and like them. We still have our old Prius which still works fine so we’re not likely to replace it soon, but we’re thinking about getting an electric bike to supplement.

    We have a solar system with Powerwall battery which uses the same Tesla phone app to monitor the system that is used to control the cars. Every now and then it goes down, which only means we don’t know how full the battery is at any moment, but for the car users it sometimes means they literally can’t get in or out of their cars.

  117. 117.

    FelonyGovt

    I wanted to like him for a while since SpaceX is a fairly significant employer here in my area. He was a lot better off before, when he mostly kept his stupid sophomoric musings and opinions to himself. Now I am actively hoping for his downfall. What an asshole.

  120. 120.

    Steeplejack

    I have had a dismal week and am trying to ease into the weekend with some small pleasures. Today I received a couple of small Libbey goblets that I ordered for the casual glass of plonk here at Chez Steep, one of which I am having now. The glass holds a good five-ounce pour and feels good in the hand. I have some tall glasses for fancy wine, but at the computer I’m always worried that they will tip over. And I don’t drink fancy wine very often.

    Haven’t decided about dinner. I’ve got stuff to make a loaded ramen bowl, but I might order pizza. Not super hungry yet.

    In about an hour I’m going to watch Foyle’s War on the lesser Britcentric PBS station. It’s just about my only appointment TV these days. I have seen all of the episodes before (I think), but I saw them in bits and pieces out of order once I discovered the series. So I’ve been going through them in chronological order on WETA-UK, enjoying them again and piecing together small details that I didn’t get the first time around. We’re up to October 1944, and everybody thinks the war will be over soon. Great series. (I know it’s available on BritBox or Acorn, but I’m content to have a little dose every week.)

    And then late tonight I’ll probably catch the episode of Father Brown that I missed earlier this week. I think the series has finally jumped the shark—or, more appropriately, hobbled over the stile—but I can’t quit it. Bucolic and soothing. What’s that word—cozy!

  125. 125.

    Steeplejack

    @FelonyGovt:

    Site’s acting a little weird. Slow to post comments, etc. I had one go into moderation, but after I edited it to change a typo it went through okay. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

    ETA: This comment went into moderation, but after I edited it—changed one letter and changed it back—it went through okay.

  128. 128.

    RepubAnon

    @raven:  I hear Elon’s primary care physician is a proctologist – that’s also the only specialist physician Elon will ever need.

  131. 131.

    Steeplejack

    @zhena gogolia:

    Bunty was quite a while ago, but I got used to her. But the last few episodes of Season 8 and the ones I’ve seen of Season 9 (new here) are just sort of lifeless, and the whole series was not that strong to start with. Always verging on too cozy, at least for me. And Mark Williams (Father Brown) and Sorcha Cusack (Mrs. McCarthy) look like they’re phoning it in at this point.

  133. 133.

    Sister Golden Bear

    I bought a Tesla awhile back before Musk went full Lex Luther and when their Superchargers were the best realistic system to use for longer road-trips.

    But never again. Aside from Musk, there’s serious quality problems—water in one of the taillights that won’t dry up, other fit and finish problems, software updates that fuck things up. (Right now changing channels on the radio is borked.) And no fucking way am I ever using full auto-pilot. Not-ready-for-prime-time software has no business being in a vehicle. Plus Maude help if you ever get in an accident, because Tesla can’t figure out how to have a sufficient amount of spare parts in stock.

  135. 135.

    sab

    @Steeplejack: I am so sorry you had a crappy week because you have always been so helpful against my crappy weeks when you are three or four states away.

  136. 136.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @sab: On the whole the Tesla is actually a nice car — and it was way more stylish than anything else on the market at the time — but that makes the flaws all the more irritating.

  137. 137.

    Steeplejack

    @zhena gogolia:

    I’m late back, don’t know if you’ll see this.

    I miss Felicia. Sid came back in the middle of Season 8, but he was so disheveled and puffy that I almost didn’t recognize him, or I thought they had recast the part. But it’s the same actor. And he also seems to be phoning it in.

    But the worst is Inspector Mallory. He has gotten so buffoonish and idiotic that I keep thinking that the villagers will arrange an accident to get rid of him. Another symptom of series rot.

    Huh. I see from IMDB that Lady Felicia will be coming back for a couple of episodes toward the end of this season.

  138. 138.

    Steeplejack

    @sab:

    Thanks for the good thoughts. Just a combination of politics, some family bullshit and an elderly (84) friend who moved cross-country in April and suddenly seems to be mentally slipping. I can’t tell if it’s the stress of the move or something worse.

  140. 140.

    YasukeSama

    In the Most American Thing Ever(tm). There will be a company in the future that will eventually buy Tesla. They will somehow have ties to Edison.

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