Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

The next time the wall wtreet journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Consistently wrong since 2002

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Everybody saw this coming.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

You are here: Home / Economics / Grifters Gonna Grift / Late Night Open Thread: Another Musk ‘Gift’ Goes Wrong

Late Night Open Thread: Another Musk ‘Gift’ Goes Wrong

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Maybe it’s all an honest misunderstanding! After all, Elon’s had a lot of extraordinary expenses, recently…


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32Comments

  2. 2.

    sab

    Last I heard US government was paying for Skylink links to Ukraine  so Elon Musk is out of pocket for nothing.

    We really should reevaluate his citizenship. One thing to be a bad actor. Another thing to milk our government.

  4. 4.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    I bought an EV about a year ago, I was looking at a Tesla, but the paint was starting to come off of Elon’s reputation.  Plus, I really didn’t like how the intermittent wiper was on the screen and not on a stalk on the steering wheel.  Man I’m glad that I bought a Bolt instead.

     

    P.S. NotMax!  I’m back on island permanent! it would be nice to meet up if you are up for it.  I give Watergirl full permissions for her to pass on my e-mail  (you know, web scraper bots….)

  5. 5.

    Cameron

    Just one more immigrant seizing the opportunities offered by the Land of Liberty; or, conversely, just one more bullshit artist looking to get paid.

  6. 6.

    NotMax

    @Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    Welcome back! Sure, a schmooze sounds good. Now that have a vehicle for which I don’t have to cross my fingers and toes as to whether or not it will make any trip my options for driving places are much more varied (except definitely NOT the new Chik-Fil-A).

    Did you ship your Bolt from the mainland?

  7. 7.

    HumboldtBlue

    I don’t recall who mentioned Extraordinary Attorney Woo last night, but I just finished the first episode, and what a brilliant character.

  8. 8.

    NotMax

    @Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    Place has undergone some changes since you left, huh?

    Aside from an order of magnitude increase in traffic, can’t quite grasp that it’s mid-October and temperatures have been stuck in the low to mid nineties.

  9. 9.

    Ken_L

    Standard marketing strategy. Hook the customer with a generous special introductory offer, then tell them they can only continue with a full subscription.

    The Pentagon will probably have to call a 1800 number to cancel the deal, only to find they can never get through.

  11. 11.

    Shalimar

    If there are alternatives, Ukraine needs to find them.  Musk is not on their side and not dependable or trustworthy.

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    In today’s highly polarized political climate, it takes a lot for a scandal to make a big difference in a high-stakes general election.

    But if the latest polls are any indication, then recent allegations against Herschel Walker, the Republican Senate nominee in Georgia, might be big enough not only to decide his race but also control of the Senate.

    Walker has slipped behind his Democratic opponent, Senator Raphael Warnock, by an average of about 2.5 percentage points across all four polls taken since Oct. 3, when an ex-girlfriend accused Walker of paying for an abortion she had in 2009. Walker has made opposition to abortion a cornerstone of his campaign and has denied the woman’s account.

    In polls, just 2.5 points is not a huge shift. Maybe as few as one in 25 of Walker’s former supporters have flipped to Warnock or drifted into the undecided column; Georgia is a closely divided state. And it’s possible this period represents Walker’s low-water mark. While the accusations against him are still fresh, some Republicans may be reluctant to show support for him in responding to pollsters but may ultimately vote for him if the heat of the issue fades for them over the coming weeks.

    As recently as a few weeks ago, Georgia was arguably the closest Senate race in the country. Now, every new poll shows Warnock leading, by an average of over three percentage points. (He had already been ahead by about a half point in polls taken by those same four pollsters before the abortion revelations.) And unlike in many other states, the polls have a relatively good track record in Georgia.

  13. 13.

    MagdaInBlack

    Kind of makes you wonder just what Putin threatened him with, in that conversation the Muskrat claims didn’t happen.

  14. 14.

    Chief Oshkosh

    Simple solution: Nationalize Starlink, strip Musk of his US citizenship, and dump his ass in District 9. They’ll know what he deserves and what to do to him.

     

    ETA: Sab beat me to it.

  16. 16.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Chief Oshkosh:

    Simple solution: Nationalize Starlink, strip Musk of his US citizenship, and dump his ass in District 9. They’ll know what he deserves and what to do to him.

    I have no idea what District 9 is, and I expect stripping someone of their citizenship requires something much more wantonly treasonous than this.

    But I’d be all for the U.S. government exercising its powers of eminent domain to take control of Starlink at a valuation set by some impartial board rather than by Muskrat.  (ETA: my apologies to muskrats. They aren’t so bad.)

  17. 17.

    AnonPhenom

    Tired: “Government shouldn’t be picking winners and losers”

    Wired: “Oligarchs can determine the outcomes of wars based on how profitable they need it to be”

  20. 20.

    lowtechcyclist

    @SiubhanDuinne:  That change in the poll numbers gives us a fix on how many antiabortion people actually believe it’s murder.  Just a few percent, huh? Precious few.

    Or maybe they’re so deranged that they believe even a murderer in the Senate is preferable to a Democrat, as long as he votes their way.  That would hardly surprise me.

  21. 21.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @lowtechcyclist:

    I have no idea what District 9 is, and I expect stripping someone of their citizenship requires something much more wantonly treasonous than this.

    Eh, the D9 ref was to highlight the fantastical nature of the rant. Lost on you real-world realist heathens! ;)

  22. 22.

    topclimber

    @SiubhanDuinne: The one and only WvsW debate is today. Even though Walker insisted on getting the questions in advance, I don’t expect him to convince any undecideds that he is a better choice than Warnock.

  23. 23.

    Baud

    @lowtechcyclist:

    That change in the poll numbers gives us a fix on how many antiabortion people actually believe it’s murder.  Just a few percent, huh? Precious few.

     
    Exactly. Can you imagine a candidate saying “I murdered babies in the past but I’ve since reformed” and not losing a ton of votes?

    Almost all of them know that abortion is different.

  24. 24.

    Geminidh

    Greece has been steadily bringing renewable energy generation on line. Solar, wind and hydro accounted for 46% of electrical generation the first eight months of this year, up from 41% the same period in 2021.

    One day last week must have been very sunny and windy, because Greece’s renewables accounted for 100% of electrical consumption, over at least 5 hours. A waypoint on the path to a carbon neutral economy.

  25. 25.

    Geminid

    @topclimber: The debate will be a good occasion for Warnock to sell himself. He is a very good communicator with decades of public speaking experienece.

    I expect that for Walker and his  team, this will be an exercise in damage limitation. Walker is still close enough that he could beat Warnock, but he can’t afford to lose more ground.

  26. 26.

    grumbles

    Allow me to repeat my message to the vital Dr. Musk:

    Go Galt Already!

    Please, I humbly, grovelingly beg of you, withhold your brilliance and wisdom and white-collar-welfare takings from us proles. Show us how we will have to live without your unique gifts. Teach us a lesson.

    I’m good with now. Is that good for you?

  27. 27.

    kindness

    Elon is brilliant in his own mind.  Where have we seen this before?  Oh yea, we’ve seen it in almost every case of narcissistic oligarchs.  Now why the business press always take’s the narcissist’s take on matters isn’t too difficult to figure.  $$$ rules.

    My thinking is Elon could have been an outstanding presence, but instead of sharing the glories of his businesses he made it all about himself.  All just to glorify his ego.  That doesn’t speak well about his frame of mind or his capabilities.  I say he can’t be trusted.

  28. 28.

    Shalimar

    So the US government paid 3-4 times the list cost for the 85% of the terminals they paid for, and now Musk wants them to pay 9 times the per month charge for the service to those terminals.  Everything I ever learn about Musk makes me think he’s a horrible human being.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    @Geminid: Is Walker even capable of memorizing answers to, say, 10 different questions?

    Surely there will be follow-up questions he can’t have in advance, right?

    Can Walker possibly respond to any issues raised by Warnock?

    I hope this debate is the dumpster fire for Walker that I hope it will be.  There will be a post for the debate.

  30. 30.

    Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]

    @NotMax: Yes, I did ship it from the mainland.  I’m very happy with it. I even drove it as a Lyft driver over the summer successfully.

  32. 32.

    El Cruzado

    One thing to note is that the $60/month consumer price is, in all likelihood, making Starlink loose gobsmacking amounts of money.

    This thing was always going to be a money pit (like Iridium was in its time, even if the costs have gotten cheaper) and the blackmail attempt is likely to also —not exclusively— be a thinkly veiled attempt to keep it afloat for a little while longer.

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