Elon Musk is a fucking Idiot

[Octavious]

Sweetypie Octavious, you may have misrepresented adorable jamiet99uk over the use of the word cunt
It was me who has been a provocative over the use of that word and your evidence actually shows jamiet99uk apologising to.me for using the word cunt, no doubt after I rebuked naughty jamiet99uk

Sorry darlings

That is what happened, yes. I don't see how that in any way misrepresents Jamie.

For the full story of that day, it began (as the webDip politics forum often does) with Jamie making a robust and enthusiastic attack on the fascist du jour

Racist fash cunt.

Antisemitic fash scum.

You have applauded and endorsed racists and antisemites, in public here on this forum. Disgusting racist fash.

And so on and so forth

At this point the good Major joins the conversation, I believe as part of his longstanding forum of more decorum campaign, and gives Jamie a bit of a telling off

And you Jamiet99uk have used an offensively sexist word. I get your passion, but when you respond at that level in my opinion, you do your own position damage.

Don't let yourselves believe that this means the Major cares more for decorum than fascism, by the way. He was liberal in his tellings off that day and the fascists were duly told... but that isn't relevant to the issue at hand. I digress...

Now, as happens far more often than you might imagine, this is where I joined the conversation by leaping to Jamie's defence

And you Jamiet99uk have used an offensively sexist word. I get your passion, but when you respond at that level in my opinion, you do your own position damage.

Language is a funny old thing. Words can come with baggage, but that baggage varies enormously from place to place. The word cunt in Scotland is viewed as considerably less offensive than it is in Australia, or England for that matter. I'm not too hot on Australian swearing, but the English equivalent would be twat, which is kind of the same thing but for some reason used by both men and women as anything from a nasty put down to endearing mockery.

The Scottish cunt is still considered more insulting than the friendly rhyming slang word for the same thing, berk, which comes from "Berkeley hunt, cunt", and yet is mild enough to feature in children's literature.

Language makes no sense

You will note similarities in my comments to those used earlier in this thread by Jamie himself. Modern Jamie and me are very much of like mind

The Jamie of the time, however, disagreed. The Major made and eloquent and rather long continuation of his anti cunt argument, and Jamie's feminist instinct was truly humbled

No, Major is right. I apologise for my use of the c- word. I should have chosen a less gendered profanity. I don't apologise for anything else said in this thread though.

I was somewhat taken aback

Really? You've used that word countless times before. Turning over a new leaf?

I get angry bu the C word isn't justified.

And so endeth the chapter. Jamie was thoroughly decunted and proceeded to stick to his principles and refused to use the word for many months...

Of course the cunt inevitably returned, but after an internal struggle did indeed go away again. If memory serves Jamie was particularly influenced by the good Major and the dedicated feminist, Tanya, in this regard. I suspect that it's no coincidence that Tanya's absence and the Major's less frequent visits in recent years has led to the return to prominence of cunt based insults, to the extent that Jamie no longer even remembers his decunted periods

[Jamiet99uk]

Either that or I have been hardened in my own usage by the very frequent use of that word by a lot of my female friends and associates. But the c-word debate probably doesn't need to go around and around any further.

[Octavious]

You say that, but it's infinitely more interesting than Musk

[MajorMitchell]

Fabulous Octavious beware you are but a man & expressing hyperbolic praise of Lovely jamiet99uk and My Cantankerous Self as being more interesting than Elon Muskrat might be regarded as delusional or a perceptively Realpolitik Observation.

I have little doubts that I am.in my Declining Years~ Cognitive decline & increased Flatulence & signs of early onset rigor mortis?
Confused about future employment.
Continue Acting & become a Petty Prospero?

Or accept an offer to be an Executioner in a private Mormon Prison for Ladies in Utah?
Or take up the task of being the new UberFuhrer of the Antipodes?

Thankfully our Beloved Leader Omnipotent Zultar cares for me tenderly and kindly has refrained from asking me to be an Almighty Mod supervising the Naughty BlighterDalekBots.
Well i have to go and sell the whipper-snappers a few boxes of incendiary presents for our local Tesla Dealership~
Au revoir Sweetypies

[Octavious]

Well, you are infinitely more interesting. I know you a little, and Jamie too for that matter. We have interacted on numerous occasions. If you were to bugger off one day I would miss you. Musk is someone I have never met or communicated with at all, and never will. His latest incarnation of foreign government efficiency tsar is somewhat tedious, has no impact on me whatsoever, and if he was replaced by someone else I doubt I'd notice any difference. Why on earth would I find Musk more interesting?

Musk is one of those pitiful individuals who is likely convinced he has reached the top, and yet I doubt there are many who would want to swap lives with such a tragic figure who has screwed up his family so royally. There's enough there to write a book, but not the sort of book you'd enjoy reading. In my universe he is little more than a note in the appendix.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

I wish I could be so sure that Musk has no bearing on my day-to-day life.

But he's a leading US political figure calling for the dissolution of NATO. Even if this doesn't happen, the threat itself affects my country's defense spending and international priorities (and by extension, my tax bill).

As the head of X he appears to have a meaningful influence over the news I read, even though I never engage with his stuff directly.

A surprisingly big share of the global EV market appears to be tied to Musk personally (his decisions and how he's perceived). Huge battery plants in Canada depend on the continued success of Tesla.

He has involved himself in Canadian politics and, simultaneously, reinforced Trump's demand that Canada join the US (which appears to no longer be a joke, but rather a legitimate demand in the trade war).

[Octavious]

No doubt he does to some degree, but if it wasn't Musk doing it you'd have another face doing the same thing. One of the genuine points Trump has is that Canada has essentially been riding for free on the back of US military spending, and whoever was working for Trump would be promoting this message.

Lots of people have been pointing to collapsing Tesla sales in various parts of the world and concluding that it's a Musk effect, conveniently ignoring the collapse of electric cars from other brands. Musk may well have had an impact, but it's not particularly easy to peer through the noise and determine how big that impact has been.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

Canada has indeed been a free rider on defense. This "genius" insight does not, however, seem to factor into the Trump admins current Canada policy, which is a bizarre mix of stopping non-existent fentanyl flows and literally demanding our annexation. Canada will now indeed spend more on defense, but in a manner that supports our de-integration from a US-led military order. Meanwhile, he's destroying an integrated market he himself wrote the deal for, with deleterious effects for markets and perceptions of US reliability.

It seems fanciful to think that Musk's persona has no bearing on the performance of Tesla. The brand has fallen out of favour with affluent left-leaning people most likely to purchase an EV. Tesla's valuation losses have been more severe than other EV makers, whose stocks have also generally lost value. Obviously there's a lot going on here — the cyber truck was a bust, Chinese EVs are really good now, etc. But if I held Tesla stock I'd be very eager to new, apolitical management to take over.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

Sorry I now see you were also saying that Musk has some effect on Tesla's fortunes. My point is that, while it's complicated, the direction of his impact is not totally unknowable — reasonable Tesla stockholders are certainly wondering whether his leadership, whatever its merits might be, are worth all the very negative attention he is bringing.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

The whole Trump-Elon car commercial today was rather embarrassing.

The US president should not be endorsing a specific product or firm. Senior US government officials should keep their business affairs in a blind trust during their tenure in government.

[MajorMitchell]

Is this a time when the middle power democracy nations are in a war with the billionaires who control the USA and Russia allied with China?

[Jamiet99uk]

DOGE is a fraud and is now actively trying to conceal its fraud:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/doge-just-made-harder-track-161806265.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJAxTCjLZd8jNSDOc2EI35JxsbwGktyAiRSp492ck9N6kWoerkKta_OvyDigfIw6i6_T5Gvyx5_ZIaAdu6U6n3YGW7tT6MAaHU6TDvlFJSK6z6c1mjD-HJs0X7gC9BbrdNHScgXKz12KELvgmi3-ANWSkrPw6JdYGPzQeTSeX6Qb

Fuck Musk.

[flash2015]

Congratulations on marrying a COMMUNIST flash
That must be a lot of fun, engaging in mutual espionage and intermittently making a swap of prisoners.
Is your delightful wife any particular type of Communist?
A Leninist, Trotskyite, Stalinist or Revisionist?
I cannot imagine her being a Putinista but I have a limited imagination
Do you engage in Proxy Wars using the kids & pets?
Who do you represent?
The Swiss Banks?
Capitalism personified?

I have overlooked huge opportunities to seduce Marxists and other Communists
Do lady Communists really keep a Hammer & Scythe in their handbags?

We share a ChatGPT account between us. For my wife ChatGPT has become her loyal comrade. We keep our chats separate and I thought ChatGPT only remembered context for the current chat. Then ChatGPT 4.5 came out and I decided to ask "When should I use you versus the ChatGPT 4.0 model?". Here was its answer:

Use me (ChatGPT 4.5):
Complex Political or Ideological Discussions:
When discussing nuanced political theories, Marxist-Leninist analyses, critiques of imperialism, or specialized political debates (especially related to Myanmar, China, DPRK, or revolutionary struggles), I’m deeply tuned to your ideological framework and familiar with your political perspectives.

Historical Context and Revolutionary Theory:
For discussions requiring deep historical context, ideological nuance, or Marxist-Leninist theoretical frameworks.

Tailored Responses:
If you need highly personalized responses, especially related to your ideological positions, previous projects, or past interactions.

In-depth Analysis and Critiques:
For critical assessments of specific groups, media, or figures (such as critiques of Tricontinental, China apologists, revisionist Marxists, or Trotskyist perspectives).

[flash2015]

The whole Trump-Elon car commercial today was rather embarrassing.

The US president should not be endorsing a specific product or firm. Senior US government officials should keep their business affairs in a blind trust during their tenure in government.

Perhaps Republicans will now think "I'll buy a Tesla to own the libs". That would be a win, wouldn't it?

[MajorMitchell]

Thank you Fabulous Flash for your revelations of life with a Charismatic Comrade of the Communist genus
I am impressed with the awareness of the Civil War in Myanmar by an algorithmic Chat bot

You would be most sensible in my opinion to stay away from Revisionist Marxists

As a general rule, Avoid Revisionists.

On another topic, I am most surprised that a most remarkable observation by Octavious has gone without comment
....Jamie's noble feminist instinct....
High praise indeed imho

I only dabbled with feminism in order to seduce author Germaine Greer and singer Helen Reddy ( "I am woman hear me roar"*)

*Roaring definitely not suitable when a Fellow is hungover or if Clerical Chaps or small children / livestock in the vicinity

[flash2015]

I am sorry but I really have an itch I can't stop scratching here.

One of the most toxic things which has come out of the DEI era is the assumption that any difference in medical outcomes between different races can be explained by racism...with pseudo-scientific studies being published which allegedly back this up. One of the most famous of these was a study which allegedly showed that black babies had much better outcomes when attended to by black doctors vs. by white doctors. This has been cited widely, even by Supreme Court justices like Ketanji Brown Jackson in a dissent to a decision on affirmative action.

The problem is that the paper was nonsense. Once you take into account the birth weight of the baby this alleged racism effect goes away:

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409264121

This doesn't mean there isn't any racism in medical care (I am sure there is)...but we should NOT be assuming it like the original authors did.

This toxic ideological crap needs to be purged from the scientific and medical institutions. The rot is so deep and institutions are so ideologically compromised that this will be painful. I hate that it had to be the Trump administration to at least try and fix this.

Unfortunately this is also going to take time. I expect that ideologues on the left will continue to refer to debunked papers like this for many years to come.

[Jamiet99uk]

I am sorry but I really have an itch I can't stop scratching here.

One of the most toxic things which has come out of the DEI era is the assumption that any difference in medical outcomes between different races can be explained by racism...with pseudo-scientific studies being published which allegedly back this up. One of the most famous of these was a study which allegedly showed that black babies had much better outcomes when attended to by black doctors vs. by white doctors. This has been cited widely, even by Supreme Court justices like Ketanji Brown Jackson in a dissent to a decision on affirmative action.

The problem is that the paper was nonsense. Once you take into account the birth weight of the baby this alleged racism effect goes away:

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2409264121

This doesn't mean there isn't any racism in medical care (I am sure there is)...but we should NOT be assuming it like the original authors did.

This toxic ideological crap needs to be purged from the scientific and medical institutions. The rot is so deep and institutions are so ideologically compromised that this will be painful. I hate that it had to be the Trump administration to at least try and fix this.

Unfortunately this is also going to take time. I expect that ideologues on the left will continue to refer to debunked papers like this for many years to come.

As a committed left winger, I'd just like to say:

I have no idea what the fuck you are talking about. You appear to be tilting at windmills.

[Jamiet99uk]

This is what Trump's anti DEI drive is doing:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/16/defense-department-black-medal-of-honor-veteran

Erasing military heroes because they are black.

[flash2015]

As a committed left winger, I'd just like to say:

I have no idea what the fuck you are talking about. You appear to be tilting at windmills.

I am showing you just one important example of how science has been corrupted by activism. There are so many others. This is just the tip of the iceberg. It goes incredibly deep. You are just putting your fingers in your ears and saying "la, la, la, I can't hear you".

In some ways it is even worse than the corruption caused by money...because the activists actually believe they are doing the right thing. It is not just the BS papers which are the problem. There are the papers which are never published because they go against the narrative, there are the activists that get papers they don't like retracted because they don't like its conclusions. This rot in science is terrible.

And the worst thing about it, while it may temporarily provide one side "culture war" points, this fake science hurts the people they proport to represent.

[kingofthepirates]

agree on the potential harm DEI is doing, esp with the incorrect paper citing (I haven't read it, not going to any time soon, so I'll take your word on it), but if science is your focus, while the Trump administration is purging this bit, they're also taking a ton of other important funding that will advance science much more. Medicine in particular, but doubtless in other fields too.

There have been a number of rallies around where I live, and one of my teachers who attended has shared stories about researchers who've lost funding. One researcher at the NIH(iirc it was NIH, maybe some other place, unimportant) got his funding nuked right as a lot of progress was being made and he felt results were around the corner. Universities are losing overhead grants, and thus having to shutter various projects, and overall science is suffering under this administration. I don't remember where it was, but one of the big big famous research universities lost like several hundred million in overhead and thus had to close some projects that would've advanced science as a whole. My friend's parents work at a university, they're seeing their colleague's projects lose funding, and while not totally closing down, they're losing people. Even as a high schooler looking for internships, this is extremely stressful and scary, both from a selfish personal perspective and from a 'future of science' perspective. Can't imagine what it's like for uni students or the professors and researchers doing this almost full time... This shit is actually so fucked up. Let science just be science, let our researchers do what they need and give them the resources to do so.

Also, getting rid of probational workers is like total bs. I don't have any stories close to home i know of with respect to this, but like... messed up af. there was a guy on reddit who got promoted, had to serve probation, and was removed. that's just messed up and wrong.

this is a bit ranty (I hope my points still shine through tho) so sorry, also holy yap that was a lot, but like... fuck DOGE dude >:(