#Tesla Legal Issues

[evehiclesaura]

EEOC Files Federal Case Against Tesla for Racial Harassment: Report

In an unprecedented legal move, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has initiated a federal lawsuit against Tesla, the electric vehicle pioneer. The allegations focus on the treatment of Black employees at Tesla’s factory in Fremont, California, and involve claims of racial harassment and exposure to offensive symbols. The lawsuit has far-reaching implications, not only for…

[old-skulls]

hot take i fucking hate bethesda survival mode. no i don’t want to walk everywhere and starve to death or die every five minutes in general, i just want to be reminded to eat food and sleep for roleplaying purposes

post canceled what the fuck are these suggested tags

[sufficientlylargen]

I mean, "ghostwriter" seems to cover a pretty wide set of things, ranging from "J. Random Writer and K. Alfred Famousguy collaborated on this book, and J did more of the writing but it was published as 'By K. Famousguy (with J. Writer)'" all the way to "J wrote this book entirely on their own and it was published as 'By K. Famousguy' with no mention of J whatsoever, and K and J both signed NDAs promising to never reveal the truth", and I think the ethics of these different cases differ widely.

But I don't think it's unreasonable to argue that ''telling readers person K wrote this book when they didn't" is unethical regardless of whether

K paid OpenAI to write it

K paid another human to write it

Another human paid K to pretend they wrote it, or

K bartered with Satan, who wrote it

We all agree, right?

AI to write your novel is wrong

A bargain with a demon to write your novel is okay

[opencommunion]

"The story of  'John Doe 1' of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is tucked in a lawsuit filed five years ago against several U.S. tech companies, including Tesla, the world’s largest electric vehicle producer. In a country where the earth hides its treasures beneath its surface, those who chip away at its bounty pay an unfair price. As a pre-teen, his family could no longer afford to pay his $6 monthly school fee, leaving him with one option: a life working underground in a tunnel, digging for cobalt rocks.  But soon after he began working for roughly two U.S. dollars per day, the child was buried alive under the rubble of a collapsed mine tunnel. His body was never recovered. 

The nation, fractured by war, disease, and famine, has seen more than 6 million people die since the mid-1990s, making the conflict the deadliest since World War II. But, in recent years, the death and destruction have been aided by the growing number of electric vehicles humming down American streets. In 2022, the U.S., the world’s third-largest importer of cobalt, spent nearly $525 million on the mineral, much of which came from the Congo.

As America’s dependence on the Congo has grown, Black-led labor and environmental organizers here in the U.S. have worked to build a transnational solidarity movement. Activists also say that the inequities faced in the Congo relate to those that Black Americans experience. And thanks in part to social media, the desire to better understand what’s happening in the Congo has grown in the past 10 years. In some ways, the Black Lives Matter movement first took root in the Congo after the uprising in Ferguson in 2014, advocates say. And since the murder of George Floyd and the outrage over the Gaza war, there has been an uptick in Congolese and Black American groups working on solidarity campaigns.

Throughout it all, the inequities faced by Congolese people and Black Americans show how the supply chain highlights similar patterns of exploitation and disenfranchisement. ... While the American South has picked up about two-thirds of the electric vehicle production jobs, Black workers there are more likely to work in non-unionized warehouses, receiving less pay and protections. The White House has also failed to share data that definitively proves whether Black workers are receiving these jobs, rather than them just being placed near Black communities. 'Automakers are moving their EV manufacturing and operations to the South in hopes of exploiting low labor costs and making higher profits,' explained Yterenickia Bell, an at-large council member in Clarkston, Georgia, last year. While Georgia has been targeted for investment by the Biden administration, workers are 'refusing to stand idly by and let them repeat a cycle that harms Black communities and working families.'

... Of the 255,000 Congolese mining for cobalt, 40,000 are children. They are not only exposed to physical threats but environmental ones. Cobalt mining pollutes critical water sources, plus the air and land. It is linked to respiratory illnesses, food insecurity, and violence. Still, in March, a U.S. court ruled on the case, finding that American companies could not be held liable for child labor in the Congo, even as they helped intensify the prevalence. ... Recently, the push for mining in the Congo has reached new heights because of a rift in China-U.S. relations regarding EV production. Earlier this month, the Biden administration issued a 100% tariff on Chinese-produced EVs to deter their purchase in the U.S. Currently, China owns about 80% of the legal mines in the Congo, but tens of thousands of Congolese work in 'artisanal' mines outside these facilities, where there are no rules or regulations, and where the U.S. gets much of its cobalt imports.  'Cobalt mining is the slave farm perfected,' wrote Siddharth Kara last year in the award-winning investigative book Cobalt Red: How The Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives. 'It is a system of absolute exploitation for absolute profit.' While it is the world’s richest country in terms of wealth from natural resources, Congo is among the poorest in terms of life outcomes. Of the 201 countries recognized by the World Bank Group, it has the 191st lowest life expectancy."

[bemusedlybespectacled]

actual funniest thing that could happen (legally) right now: Trump suing Elon for defamation.

like, okay, Elon just accused Trump of being in the Epstein files and that that’s the reason why they haven't been released to the public. accusing someone of a serious crime is defamation per se, meaning Trump would not need to prove any actual damages to win. and Trump loves filing defamation lawsuits, even in situations where his own conduct made him look bad, but to be fair to him, I think most people would be upset if they were accused of pedophilia, not just people with skin made out of wet Kleenex.

now, normally, it’s difficult to prove defamation against a public figure. New York Times v. Sullivan requires that someone who makes false statements against a public figure needs to have had “actual malice” (either the speaker knew the statement was false or didn’t care if the statement was true or not) for it to be defamation. Trump hates New York Times v. Sullivan because it makes it harder for him to sue people for defamation, and he's argued it should be overturned before.

but here, he wouldn’t even need to argue that it should be overturned! Elon is clearly making those statements with "actual malice" - he's clearly just saying this shit because he's upset at being booted from the White House, not because he actually has any knowledge of what's in the Epstein files!

UNLESS

UNLESS

Elon is in fact telling the truth, because truth is an absolute defense to defamation.

so say Trump sues Elon. now Elon has to pour some of his personal resources into paying lawyers. we've seen that Trump has attacked law firms for representing people he doesn't like (including issuing blatantly illegal executive orders targeting them and only lifting them if they "donate" pro bono work to the government), so Elon might need to spend more than he normally would to keep his lawyers happy and still willing to work for him. so it would take a lot of effort and a lot of money at a time when all of his companies are tanking.

and that's assuming Trump doesn't also cancel Musk's government contracts, which would hurt his income stream directly (much less money coming in to Tesla and Starlink and SpaceX) and indirectly (if people think his companies are bad investments, that doesn't just affect the price of his stock, but also his net worth).

but on Trump's side, he's going to have to prove that the accusations aren't true (the burden of proof is on the plaintiff in the US), and if he refuses to release the Epstein files to support his case, that's going to add fuel to the fire (both in actual court and the court of public opinion) because one of Elon's accusations is that Trump is deliberately hiding the Epstein files because he's in them.

additionally, even if Trump commandeered federal funds to pay for his legal team (which he totally would, and would make it possibly the only time Elon has been the less wealthy party in a case), Trump also doesn't, like, pay anyone who works for him. and just fired a bunch of DoJ lawyers in addition to everyone else in the government. and hired a bunch of total incompetents to run things. and if any of the law firms he's targeted with his executive orders have represented both him and Elon, they won't be able to legally represent Trump against Elon. so he's not exactly going to have the pick of the litter if he needs someone to personally represent him.

seriously I would kill to be able to watch these particular legal fireworks, it would be SO fucking funny, I am speaking this into the universe and asking for it to be manifested

[jangillman]

To all the "Hands Off" Protesters (Democrats):

We are currently at a critical juncture with a national debt of $36.5 trillion, increasing by $2 trillion each year. This is a critical issue, and most experts are warning us that we have relatively few years left to take decisive action before America faces a financial crisis that would have catastrophic consequences for this country and the world.

Amid all your protests, the burning of Teslas, and your petulant vitriol, one crucial element is glaringly missing: any plan to cut government spending. Instead, your goal appears to be to spend even more.

We finally have leaders in President Trump and Elon Musk who are courageous enough to finally focus on sustainable spending practices that are critical to avoid risking our economic future. Time is of the essence—instead of being in the way, let’s act together before it’s too late.

If not...

HANDS OFF - my tax dollars, which were not intended for your pet projects and the corrupt, virtue-signaling Socialists who spew the garbage you all take as gospel. It’s not a slush fund and a money laundering operation through left-wing NGO's to make politicians rich.

HANDS OFF - my child at school. Teach them the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. They are not there to be indoctrinated into your Marxist ideologies.

HANDS OFF - trying to force American women and girls to compete against biological men, and then adding insult to injury, forcing them to change and shower in front of them. Stop forcing your fu@ked up theories on the rest of us.

HANDS OFF - all the property you destroy in the name of whatever cause you’re supporting that given week. Other people’s vehicles are not yours to destroy. Neither are statues or all the other s#it you light on fire.

HANDS OFF - our college campuses. Decent kids are there to learn. Free speech is protected. Violence, intimidation, and taking over buildings are not. By the way, if your cause is so just, take off the masks and show yourself. Cowards one and all.

HANDS OFF - our president, who was duly elected to clean up the mess y’all created. We sat by and watched as you supported a puppet who was practically dead. It damn near destroyed the nation. Financially, from a security standpoint, and morally.

HANDS OFF - to all the federal district judges. Your power does not supersede the executive branch. And, stop using Lawfare by going after your political opponents.

HANDS OFF - our ICE Agents, who are taking violent gang bangers out of our country and forcing people who want to come here to do so legally. It should be the only way. Period. End of story.

HANDS OFF - our Free Speech rights. For years, you have used the process of cancelling people who simply wanted to express their own ideas. In your world, you think free speech can only be allowed if it agrees with your screwed up ideologies.

HANDS OFF - the American family. You have done everything possible to destabilize the concept of families because you believe that our ultimate allegiance should be to the government.

HANDS OFF - from imposing your Marxist views of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and the methods you’ve used to implement them through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Most Americans are compassionate individuals who believe in judging people based on their character rather than the color of their skin.

These principles are what the vast majority of Americans voted for.

You don’t like it, be like that slob Rosie O'Donnell and move to Europe, which is being taken over by radical Islam.

So, to borrow your stupid little slogan…. Hands Off...

Love,

MAGA Country...

[mariacallous]

In 2024, wealth concentration rose to an all-time high. According to Forbes’ Billionaires List, not only are there more billionaires than ever—2,781—but those billionaires are also richer than ever, with an aggregate worth of $14.2 trillion. This is a trend that looks set to continue unabated. A recent report from the financial data company Altrata estimated that about 1.2 million individuals who are worth more than $5 million will pass on a collective wealth of almost $31 trillion over the next decade.

Discontentment and concern over the consequences of extreme wealth in our society is growing. Senator Bernie Sanders, for instance, stated that the “obscene level of income and wealth inequality in America is a profoundly moral issue.��� In a joint op-ed for CNN in 2023, Democratic congresswoman Barbara Lee and Disney heiress Abigail Disney wrote that “extreme wealth inequality is a threat to our economy and democracy.” In 2024, when the board of Tesla put to vote a $56 billion pay package for Elon Musk, some major shareholders voted against it, declaring that such a compensation level was “absurd” and “ridiculous.”

In 2025, the fight against rising wealth inequality will be high on the political agenda. In July 2024, the G20—the world’s 20 biggest economies—agreed to work on a proposal by Brazil to introduce a new global “billionaire tax” that would levy a 2 percent tax on assets worth more than $1 billion. This would raise an estimated $250 billion a year. While this specific proposal was not endorsed in the Rio declaration, the G20 countries agreed that the super rich should be taxed more.

Progressive politicians won’t be the only ones trying to address this problem. In 2025, millionaires themselves will increasingly mobilize and put pressure on political leaders. One such movement is Patriotic Millionaires, a nonpartisan group of multimillionaires who are already publicly campaigning and privately lobbying the American Congress for a guaranteed living wage for all, a fair tax system, and the protection of equal representation. “Millionaires and large corporations—who have benefited most from our country’s assets—should pay a larger percentage of the tab for running the country,” reads their value statement. Members include Abigail Disney, former BlackRock executive Morris Pearl, legal scholar Lawrence Lessig, screenwriter Norman Lear, and investor Lawrence Benenson.

Another example is TaxMeNow, a lobby group founded in 2021 by young multimillionaires in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland which also advocates for higher wealth taxation. Its most famous member is the 32-year old Marlene Engelhorn, descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, founder of German pharma giant BASF. She recently set up a council made up of 50 randomly selected Austrian citizens to decide what should happen to her €25 million inheritance. “I have inherited a fortune, and therefore power, without having done anything for it,” she said in a statement. “If politicians don’t do their job and redistribute, then I have to redistribute my wealth myself.”

Earlier this year, Patriotic Millionaires, TaxMeNow, Oxfam, and another activist group called Millionaires For Humanity formed a coalition called Proud to Pay More, and addressed a letter to global leaders during the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Signed by hundreds of high-net-worth individuals—including heiress Valerie Rockefeller, actor Simon Pegg, and filmmaker Richard Curtis—the letter stated: “We all know that ‘trickle down economics’ has not translated into reality. Instead it has given us stagnating wages, crumbling infrastructure, failing public services, and destabilized the very institution of democracy.” It concluded: “We ask you to take this necessary and inevitable step before it’s too late. Make your countries proud. Tax extreme wealth.” In 2025, thanks to the nascent movement of activist millionaires, these calls will grow even louder.

[jynjackets]

I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts on these matters. I'm frustrated that this show is receiving so much praise and being held on such a pedestal. It's worth of criticism just like anything else. Also I saw people on twitter saying you are a racist if you ship rebelcaptain and prefer Cassian with Jyn over Bix and Cassian but like, its not even a shipping thing for me, I feel uncomfortable when women are sidelined in romantic arcs and I feel like that's valid??? Like there's a lot of issues happening at once.

Hi thank you anon <3 People are hella stupid. It’s a lot right now, but it will die down just as s1 did. I hope it helps if i can put some truths into perspective tho.

1. Andor is a flop.

Streaming services are not legally obligated to share their numbers but your most reliable source will be to check Nielsen ratings. Season 1 was a flop.

These are fan made Nielsen-based charts pulled during the middle of when the acolyte was airing. You can do your own updated research and the numbers will not be different. Data for all series before the acolyte show that Andor was the second least watched star wars show on Disney+ all time.

This is partly where a lot of the “you guys aren’t nearly as intelligent as we are” argument comes from because this show is just super unpopular. Deadass nobody cares and it makes them upset.

It was so severely unpopular that ABC and Hulu scheduled to air 6 of the 12 episodes for free. Until the first 2 episodes flopped so hard they pulled the rest from the schedule before it could air. Later, Disney posted the entire series to YouTube to garner more audience for season 2. Season 2’s lets-get-this-over-with 3-week block release schedule is most logically due to s1’s overall failure.

Nielsen needs some weeks to release the complete numbers but what we know already is that Andor S2 failed to make the Top 10 for at least 2 out of the three arcs with most notably its premiere having missed out. That’s quite embarrassing when all your Emmy competitors, even the ‘boring’ ones, have zero problem with this. They also have won a total of zero Emmy’s. So much for critically acclaimed.

2. Social media sucks right now more than ever

I don’t think people seem to remember that twitter is literally owned by Elon Musk. If people are drawing dicks on teslas why are people still using twitter? But they’re also not. Since the takeover, twitter has lost around 7 million users while making no revenue. New AI features and purchase-able exposure has made it unusable while the demographic has also largely shifted to noticeably less poc users. This is also similar for reddit.

So not only do we have a shit platform, we are looking at one of the worst star wars (emphasis on star wars!) fanbases on a shit platform. That post about being a racist rebelcaptain shipper if you don’t like bin, is stupid as fuck. I’m 90% sure it’s coming from someone white. Even if it’s not they’re still fucking stupid and get off making shitty discourse. These people want to talk race relations when their favorite show consistently hates black and brown people. And the most important topic for them is how race is a factor in picking a fictional girlfriend. be so fr.

Back to the show, season 1 was criticized for being boring which many agreed and voiced. The special case with season 2 is that everyone that loved it will be returning, while other parties are completely checked out, making for a very polarizing fanbase. So in looking up conversation about season 2, you’re only going to find the exact type of people that have no problem with gratuitous sexual assault and latinophobia, having not bat an eye at the sexualization and racism of s1. We are looking inside a bag labeled dead bird and expecting to find something else.

Sorry to blurb!

These are just my own affirmations that help me stay sane in this mess. You said you believe women shouldn’t be sidelined for shitty romantic arcs. You are right and you know it. Remain confident in the fact that you know what’s right even when everyone else makes you feel insane. They want you to cave, they want a reaction. You dont need to fight it but you need to keep yourself safe which includes protecting your values.

Also last thing if you’re still here. Deadass, everyone just watch rogue one. and have a good cry about it.

For me, watching it again and i was reminded how there really isn’t a movie that has made me want to kill myself (compliment) like rogue one. I don’t love the movie because it was made by disney star wars, i love it for what it was on its own and what it meant to me. If something is going to even COMPARE to that feeling it gives me, it sure as fuck not going to be a hyperflop anti-women fanfic youtube series. It all becomes so small when i’m reminded that a character like jyn was even a possibility.

[posttexasstressdisorder]

CNN 5/28/2025

Walmart, Target and other companies warn about growing consumer boycotts

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN

Updated: 7:00 AM EDT, Wed May 28, 2025

Source: CNN

Companies are warning investors about the risks of becoming the next target of angry customers.

Corporate America is required to disclose risks to their businesses in their annual regulatory filings. This year, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Corona-parent Constellation Brands join an increasing number of companies advising investors about customer and legal backlash to their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies and environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives. They’re also giving notice of the risks of rolling back these programs.

Businesses typically warn shareholders about economic downturns, data breaches, natural disasters, and tax code changes. But companies are adding new risk disclosures in response to the intense political divide over corporate efforts to increase diversity in the workplace, promote LGBTQ rights and slow down climate change, corporate governance and risk management researchers say.

“Companies face a Catch-22 situation,” said Kristen Jaconi, director of the Peter Arkley Institute for Risk Management at USC. “Consumers may be dissatisfied if a company takes a particular position on a social issue or if a company takes no position at all.”

Consumer brands are trying to avoid damaging boycotts like those against Bud Light, Tesla, and Target. They are also reacting to opposition to DEI on the right, including the Trump administration’s threats to investigate companies with “illegal” DEI programs, conservative lawsuits and activist shareholder proposals against companies, and right-wing activists like Robby Starbuck targeting companies with DEI programs.

“The heightened debate on DEI and climate, in particular, has driven the inclusion of these disclosures in the last few months,” said Matteo Tonello, the head of benchmarking and analytics at The Conference Board.

‘Conflicting expectations’

Many companies are warning about consumer boycotts from both the political right and left, stoked on social media platforms.

“Strong opinions continue to be publicly expressed both for and against diversity, equity and inclusion and ESG initiatives,” Walmart said in its annual report released in March.

Walmart, which ended some of its diversity programs earlier this year, said it and other companies’ positions are “subject to heightened scrutiny from consumers, investors, advocacy groups and public figures, potentially leading to consumer boycotts, negative publicity campaigns, litigation and reputational harm.”

Target said in its annual report in March that expectations from shareholders, customers and employees over whether it should offer certain products or pursue ESG and DEI goals are varied, and at times conflicting.

“We have previously been unable to meet some of those conflicting expectations, which has led to negative publicity and adversely affected our reputation,” Target said.

Target noted backlash to its merchandise selection during Pride Month in 2023. That year, a boycott from the right over some of Target’s LGBTQ-themed merchandise led to a drop in sales and lawsuits from Republican-aligned legal groups.

Conversely, Target also noted “adverse reactions from some of our shareholders, guests, team members, and others” over its decision to end some of its diversity programs this year. Target’s sales fell last quarter, driven in part by customer backlash to Target’s retreat on DEI.

Target said any future changes to its policies could result in a negative reaction from some customers. The company also warned that it could face litigation and investigations from states and federal agencies that assert diversity programs violate the law, but said its initiatives were legal.

Anti-ESG backlash

Target is not alone in signaling that the Republican legal assault and right-leaning consumer backlash against diversity policies, in particular, could pose a big risk to business.

Abercrombie & Fitch, Kroger, PVH Corp. and other companies warn they could be hurt by the Trump administration’s anti-DEI and anti-ESG crackdown.

“There is some indication that sustainability goals are becoming more controversial,” Kroger said in its annual filing last month. “The recent change to the United States administration and changes in investor perspectives could also affect our ability to pursue our sustainability goals and could lead to increased criticism and associated reputational harm.”

PVH, the owner of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, said in its annual filing last month that it could be “subjected to negative responses by governmental actors (such as anti-ESG legislation or retaliatory legislative treatment) or customers (such as boycotts or negative publicity campaigns) that could adversely affect our reputation.”

It’s notable that companies are now anticipating boycotts, said Lawrence Glickman, a historian at Cornell University who studies consumer activism.

“Often, boycotts catch companies by surprise,” he said. “Recent boycotts have been successful enough that (companies) are worried about them.”

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[justinspoliticalcorner]

Nick Robins-Early at The Guardian:

In the days after a federal judge ruled Elon Musk’s dismantling of USAID likely violated the constitution, the world’s richest person issued a series of online attacks against the American judiciary, offered money to voters to sign a petition opposing “activist judges”, and called on Congress to remove his newfound legal opponents from office. “This is a judicial coup,” Musk wrote on Wednesday, asking lawmakers to “impeach the judges”.

Musk, who serves as a senior adviser to Donald Trump, posted about judges who ruled in opposition to the administration more than 20 times within 48 hours this week on X, the social network he owns, repeatedly framing them as radical leftist activists and seeking to undermine their authority. His denunciations came as his so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) faces sweeping and numerous legal challenges to its gutting overhaul of the government, which has involved firing thousands of workers and gaining access to sensitive government data. Doge is the subject of nearly two dozen lawsuits, which in some cases have already resulted in judges imposing more transparency on Musk’s initiative or reversing parts of its rapid-fire cuts at federal agencies. The legal pushback poses one of the most significant challenges to Musk’s plans, which for weeks after inauguration day involved operating with expansive powers and little evident oversight.

While Musk posts online, he is also directing some of his immense wealth towards those who support his cause. Musk donated funds to seven Republican members of Congress who called for impeaching judges, the New York Times reported, giving the maximum allowable donation of $6,600 to their campaigns. Musk also launched a petition on Thursday against “activist judges” via his political action group America Pac, which offered registered voters in Wisconsin $100 if they signed. Musk’s Pac has funneled millions of dollars into the state’s 1 April supreme court race, in which he is backing a former Republican attorney general in another attempt to reshape the country’s courts. Musk’s campaign against judges has intensified amid a��wider clash between the Trump administration and the judiciary over the rule of law following court decisions who pushed back against the administration’s mass deportations of immigrants. It follows longstanding behavior from Trump to rail against judges that have ruled against him in cases concerning his businesses or personal matters.

The White House’s fight with judges escalated to the point where John Roberts, the supreme court chief justice, issued a rare public statement on Tuesday defending the justice system. “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision,” Roberts wrote. “The normal appellate process exists for that purpose.” Musk responded in a post on X one day later. “For more than two centuries, there has never such [sic] extreme abuse of the legal system by activists pretending to be judges,” he wrote. “Impeach them.” [...]

Musk calls for impeachment and remaking the judiciary

Musk has reacted to the court decisions with outrage and unsubstantiated accusations that the judges are “rogue activists” who must be stopped, a message also shared by Republican lawmakers and Trump. On X, the Tesla CEO has amplified far-right influencers who have called for impeaching justices or targeted specific judges in posts.

“An activist judge is no judge at all, just someone wearing a costume,” Musk responded to a post from rightwing commentator Matt Walsh that suggested Trump should “go to war against activist judges”. Musk has also received support from foreign leaders who have attacked their countries’ judiciaries and challenged the rule of law. He responded with a “100” emoji to a post from Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that claimed “when a strong right wing leader wins an election, the leftist Deep State weaponizes the justice system”. Netanyahu attempted in 2023 to weaken the power of Israel’s judiciary, prompting nationwide protests and fears of a constitutional crisis. El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele’s party ousted all supreme court judges in 2021 as human rights groups warned about a slide into authoritarianism, has become a repeated point of comparison for Musk. He retweeted a post from Bukele on Tuesday that claimed the “U.S. is facing a judicial coup” and repeated that language himself in later posts. In another post, Musk responded “it is the only way” to a failed far-right US congressional candidate who suggested that the country should emulate El Salvador by investigating politicians and impeaching “all corrupt judges”. The former candidate, Valentina Gomez, received media attention last year for a campaign video in which she burned LGBTQ+-themed books with a flamethrower.

Traitor Elon Musk calls for justices that rule against his DOGE scheme to be “impeached.” Musk is a disgraceful 🐓🍭 .

See Also:

The Message Box: How to Channel Your Anger at Elon Musk

[justforbooks]

How the world’s richest man laid waste to the US government

Elon Musk has achieved astonishing power in Trump’s administration – and spent the weekend wielding it

Since declaring his support for Donald Trump in July of last year and subsequently spending more than $250m on his re-election effort, Elon Musk has rapidly accumulated political influence and positioned himself at the heart of the new administration. Now as prominent as the president himself, Musk has begun to make use of that power, making decisions that could affect the health of millions of people, gaining access to highly sensitive personal data, and attacking anyone who opposes him. Musk, the world’s richest man and an unelected official, has achieved an astonishing level of power over the federal government.

Over the weekend, workers with Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) clashed with civil servants over demands for unfettered access to the computer systems of major US government agencies in a breakneck series of confrontations. When the dust settled, several top officials who opposed the takeover had been pushed out, and Musk’s allies had gained control.

Musk, with the backing of Trump, is now working to shut down the US Agency for International Development (USAid) – the world’s largest single supplier of humanitarian aid. He bragged on Sunday about “feeding USAid into the wood chipper”. He has also targeted several other agencies in an aggressive attempt to purge and remake the federal government along ideological lines, while avoiding congressional or judicial oversight.

Many of Musk’s actions have taken place without forewarning or transparency, sowing chaos and confusion among the thousands of people employed at the agencies like USAid that he has gone after. Humanitarian organizations that rely on US funding have halted operations and laid off staff, while government workers have been locked out of their offices. He is operating Doge as an unofficial government department with no congressionally approved mandate while he technically holds the position of “special government employee”, which allows him to sidestep financial disclosures and a public vetting process.

Musk has gleefully posted on X, the social media platform that he owns, throughout the chaos. He has accused USAid of corruption, and of being a “criminal organization” and “radical-left political psy op”, without any evidence. Why? He tweeted an explanation of simply doing Trump’s bidding: “All @DOGE did was check to see which federal organizations were violating the @POTUS executive orders the most. Turned out to be USAID, so that became our focus.” He said it was “time for it to die”.

Musk also suggested that opposition to his team will be punished, reposting a letter sent to him from the Trump-appointed federal prosecutor for Washington DC, who vowed to “pursue any and all legal action against anyone who impedes your work or threatens your people”.

The New York Democratic senator Chuck Schumer wrote on Tuesday morning: “An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government. DOGE is not a real government agency. DOGE has no authority to shut programs down or to ignore federal law.” Musk responded that the reaction was “hysterical”.

As other Democrats and government oversight groups began to respond to the breakneck series of actions from Musk’s team, on Tuesday the Tesla and SpaceX CEO continued to plow ahead with his cuts and told his supporters: “We’re never going to get another chance like this.”

Musk takes over federal agencies

Immediately following Trump’s inauguration on 20 January, the president issued an executive order establishing Musk’s “department of government efficiency”. Rather than create an entirely new entity, the order renamed the US Digital Service, which was previously tasked with updating government IT systems, and brought the rechristened bureau into the executive office of the president.

Government accountability groups instantly saw red flags with its creation, filing four separate lawsuits that alleged Doge violated federal transparency laws while warning that the initiative was “slated to dictate federal policy in ways that will affect millions of Americans”.

The concerns from watchdog organizations have borne out. Musk and employees of Doge have gained access to sensitive government systems in the treasury department and USAid in recent days, as well as exerted control over the office of personnel management (OPM) and the General Services Administration, which handles federal real estate, with the goal of ending office leases. Two federal workers additionally sued on Tuesday for a temporary restraining order against Doge for allegedly operating an illegal server in OPM.

Attempts at blocking Musk’s team have resulted in several top agency officials being ousted. On Friday, the treasury department’s acting secretary, David Lebryk, resigned after refusing to grant Musk’s team access to highly secure systems that control about $6tn in annual payments to millions of Americans. The next day, two senior security officials at USAid attempted to stop Doge workers from gaining physical access to restricted areas at the agency – resulting in a standoff in which a deputy for Musk threatened to call the US marshals. Both security officials have subsequently been put on administrative leave, and on Sunday night staff at USAid received emails telling them to not come into work the next day.

The events unfolded swiftly and took place mostly outside of working hours, creating uncertainty over the weekend as to who was in charge and what authority the Doge team possessed. Many of the Doge team tasked with carrying out the overhauls of government agencies appear to have little to no experience in government and are extremely young. One of the engineers is as young as 19, Wired reported, while a 25-year-old who previously worked at two of Musk’s companies gained access to treasury department payment systems.

The Trump administration has maintained that all Musk’s actions have been legal and did not violate security protocols, although the details of what Doge employees are doing with access to government systems is still unclear. “No classified material was accessed without proper security clearances,” Katie Miller, a Doge spokesperson and wife of the far-right Trump administration official Stephen Miller, wrote on X.

Musk has claimed that his actions are cutting unnecessary costs and will allow for more efficient government, but he has also suggested his taskforce is ideologically opposed to liberal initiatives such as refugee services and the promotion of trans rights. He has routinely engaged with far-right and conspiracy theory-promoting accounts on X while touting his dismantling of USAid, an agency that has become a target in recent years among hardline conservatives. The far-right Heritage Foundation thinktank specifically called for reforming USAid in its controversial Project 2025 report, accusing it of spreading “climate extremism” and “gender radicalism”.

Musk acting with Trump’s backing

Trump has supported Musk’s aggressive approach to dismantling government agencies, confirming plans on Monday to shut down USAid and praising Musk as a “big cost cutter”. As backlash swelled and Democrats issued calls for action against Musk on Monday, Trump attempted to assuage some of the concerns and reassert that he was in charge.

“Elon can’t do and won’t do anything without our approval,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “We’ll give him approval where appropriate and where not appropriate we won’t.”

But there have been no public signs thus far that Trump has reined in Musk’s ambitions or prevented him from engaging in potential conflicts – he has many, as a number of his companies do extensive work with government agencies he now holds sway over. Several of Trump’s recent policy announcements also appeared to align with Musk’s worldview and personal grievances.

Trump declared on Monday that he would shut down all aid to South Africa, Musk’s country of birth, over what he alleged was a “massive human rights violation” in the form of a new land rights law. Musk has repeatedly accused the South African government of racism against white people and falsely claimed that the government is allowing a “genocide” against white farmers.

Another executive order from Trump on 31 January vowed to “unleash prosperity through deregulation” and declared that whenever a government agency issues a new regulation it must first remove 10 existing regulations. The order has echoed Musk’s longstanding calls for widespread deregulation of the federal government, which Musk reiterated in a livestream on Monday night on X, when he stated “regulations, basically, should be default gone”. He described the current administration as “our best shot” at this deregulation and “the best hand of cards we’re ever going to have”.

Musk has made sweeping and aggressive declarations about what else must change about the US government, indicating where he might strike next. He stated on Monday: “Activist judges must be removed from the bench or there is no justice,” and praised the representative Marjorie Taylor Greene for issuing calls for NPR and PBS to testify at a hearing about their operations. Greene, who is head of a “delivering on government efficiency” group within the House oversight committee that aims to support Musk’s efforts, accused the public media organizations of ideological bias – citing a PBS report that Musk “gave what appeared to be a fascist salute” during a speech last month.

It is uncertain what mechanisms may prevent further cuts by Musk. His immense influence coupled with his erratic behavior have made it difficult to quickly ascertain where the next axe may fall, such as on Monday when Musk claimed that a government agency that worked on a free IRS tax filing system was “deleted” while giving no further information. The agency’s program was still online as of Tuesday.

What is clear from Musk’s public statements is the intent to barrel ahead with accumulating more power over government agencies, while framing his crusade as an existential fight for the future of the country.

“It’s now or never,” the billionaire tweeted on Tuesday. “Your support is crucial to the success of the revolution of the people.”

Incredible things are happening already❗ 👀 🤔

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[awesome-casuallyfamouscollector]

Former Tesla engineer Christina Balan, who was fired in 2014, said in an interview that her entire team was threatened with deportation for taking her side when she brought up a brake safety issue directly to Elon Musk. She’s now succeeded in throwing out Tesla’s arbitration case against her, and hopes to meet Tesla directly in open court in a case that could influence corporate policy nationwide.

Christina Balan is a Romanian-born engineer who formerly worked for Tesla on the Model S. Her contributions were significant enough that her initials appeared on the Model S’ battery pack.

But in 2014, she brought up what she considered a safety issue directly with Elon Musk. She thought that the Model S’ floor mats could cause a brake safety issue, similar to a situation that Toyota had recently gone through (though that also led to a media firestorm that blew the issue out of proportion).

She said that Tesla had chosen suppliers based on friendships, not quality.

[netscapenavigator-official]

People in the notes of my post about Tesla removing the gear selectors from its new cars, asking how that's even legal, clearly have no idea just how incompetent and slow-paced the NHTSA is.

Halogen headlights weren't legal until 1979.

Composite headlights (the uniquely designed ones that aren't the old-school circle or square ones you see on older cars) weren't legal until 1984.

Adaptive High Beams (Matrix Headlights) were only recently legalized, in 2022; and the regulations and testing procedures in order to approve them are so haphazard and over-complicated compared to Europe's that not a single automaker has even made them available.

Side Curtain airbags still are not mandated in the United States.

Turn Signals can be red in the U.S., as opposed to the statistically safer amber which is mandatory in Europe.

Making that worse, those red turn signals are allowed to share lamps with the brake lights. This means if you have your turn signal on, 1/3 of your brake lights can’t do their job because they're too busy doing another job.

There is no law in the United States dictating that an electric car must put on its brake lights when Regen braking. In fact, the law specifically states that only the friction brakes are required to activate brake lights. You can bring a Hyundai Ioniq 5 & 6, Kia EV6, Genesis GV60, and many other EVs to a rapid, complete stop without ever activating the brake lights.

Early model Chevrolet Bolt EVs and some Mercedes-Benz EVs will activate the brake lights appropriately when slowing down, but will deactivate their brake lights once they've come to a complete stop, allowing the car to sit at a standstill in the road without any indicator that it isn't traveling at the same speed as you are.

It's completely up to the automaker to decide how (or even if) to implement regen brake lighting. EVs and Hybrids have been around since the late 1990s and this still hasn't changed.

The US government STILL only evaluates a vehicles crash safety by crash testing it at 35 mph into a flat wall and t-boning it with a barrier representing a 3,000 lb sedan. They don't do an offset frontal test or a truck-barrier side test like the IIHS has been doing for private insurance companies for over a decade.

The NHTSA performs ZERO pedestrian crash safety tests like EuroNCAP does.

Oh, and on the topic of gear selectors, those aren't regulated at all. Here are some examples from modern cars, both electric and not:

BMW i3 & Nissan LEAF (Electric):

Toyota Prius (Hybrid) & Honda Clarity (Plug-in Hybrid):

RAM 1500 & Cadillac Escalade (Gasoline):

The automotive rules of the American government are pure chaos, and that’s if they're even there at all. If you're seriously asking how Tesla can allow a car to select reverse on its own, and then put the manual override in the touch screen, I mean, that's just scratching the surface.

If you wanna learn more, Technology Connections on YouTube has some great videos on the Turn Signal issue, the EV Regen brake light issue, and the history of the headlight regulations. I highly recommend you check them out because it truly puts into perspective just how awful the NHTSA is at doing its one job: keeping safety standards up-to-date.

[theabstruseone]

Wait, he ranked the price of Twitter by 20 billion? Weren’t the rumours that he was looking to tank Twitter then sell off its assets?

The problem is you can find all sorts of rumors. He bought Twitter to wreck it, he bought Twitter to turn it into the X App he failed at pitching at PayPal, he bought Twitter to destroy the public square and undermine democracy, he bought Twitter as part of a deal with Mark Zuckerberg to destroy Twitter and leave Facebook as the only viable social media platform, he bought Twitter to appears the grey aliens in their war against the lizard people on behalf of the Illuminati.

The thing is...Elon Musk did NOT want to buy Twitter. He had to be sued and forced to buy the company.

He ran his mouth because he was angry he wasn't getting his way like the rich asshole he is, basically saying "If you don't do what I say I'll just buy the place and make you." And because he'd already bought shares of the company as part of this strongarm tactic, he was legally responsible for buying the company. And at his stupid-ass $54.20 offer that added over $150 million to the price just to add the $0.20 to the price because 420 blaze it and he is a child.

Add in that Tesla and SpaceX only function because they're Musk-proofed themselves. There are layers between the manic whims of the spoiled manchild that prevent him from running around yanking wires out of stuff to see what breaks like he's allegedly done at Twitter (technically it was turning off servers to see who panicked accord to reports but seriously, that's the sort of shit he's doing).

There doesn't need to be any grand conspiracy or ulterior motive other than the racist misogynist homophobic asshole who refuses to be told "no" is throwing a massive temper tantrum because his ex-wives hate him, his children hate him, he was forced to buy the company, and he got kicked out of PayPal 20 years ago and hasn't gotten over the bruised ego since then.

Do you REALLY think the guy who got so mad the President of the United States issuing an official statement from the White House got more attention than him so had the engineers boost his ranking in the algorithm enough so that he dominated everybody's feeds for a day to get more attention on him could actually plot a real conspiracy?

Or does Occam's Razor say he's just a privileged little shit who is indulging in his racism and transphobia while pandering to the fascist sycophants who keep licking his boots?

[olivafans]

Trump takes Elon Musk's side in H-1B visa debate, says he's always been a fan of the program

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday sided with his top supporter and billionaire tech CEO Elon Musk in a public spat over the use of the H-1B visa, saying he fully supports the foreign tech worker program, which some of his supporters oppose. Trump’s remarks followed a series of social media posts by Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O) and SpaceX, who vowed on Friday night to go to “war” to protect the U.S. foreign worker visa program. Trump, who has tried to limit the use of visas during his first term, told the New York Post on Saturday that he also favored the visa program. “I have a lot of H-1B visas in my portfolio, I’m a big fan of H-1B. “I’ve used it many times. It’s a great program,” he said. Elon Musk, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in South Africa, has been granted an H-1B visa, and his electric car company Tesla has been granted 724 such visas this year. H-1B visas are generally valid for three-year periods, although holders can extend them or apply for a green card.

The row was sparked earlier this week by far-right activists who criticized Trump's choice of Sriram Krishnan, an Indian-American venture capitalist, to be an artificial intelligence advisor, saying it would influence the Trump administration's immigration policies.

Elon Musk's tweet was aimed at Trump supporters and immigration extremists, who are increasingly calling for the repeal of the H-1B visa program amid a heated debate over immigration and the place that skilled immigrants and foreign workers bring into the country with work visas. On Friday, Steve Bannon, a confidant of Trump, criticized the "big tech oligarchs" for supporting the H-1B program and called immigration a threat to Western civilization. In response, Musk and many other tech billionaires have drawn a line between what they consider legal immigration and illegal immigration. Trump has promised to deport all immigrants who are in the United States illegally, impose tariffs to help create more jobs for American citizens and severely limit immigration. The visa issue shows how technology leaders like Musk - who played an important role in the presidential transition, advising key personnel and policies - are now attracting the attention of their base. The U.S. tech industry relies on the government’s H-1B visa program to hire skilled foreign workers to help run their companies, a workforce that critics say undercuts the wages of American citizens. Elon Musk spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help Trump get elected in November. He has been writing regularly this week about the lack of domestic talent to fill all the positions needed at American tech companies.