Musk offers to buy Twitter

[dada_dave]

https://twitter.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1651193277125672963

 

[AG_PhamD]

Sounds fair. I assume Teslas will for now on also come with a “funded by the government” label printed on the rear fender.

Sure- though I’m not sure that’s very relevant when buying a car. Especially when most other American brands either have received direct funding/loan or subsidies. When the government is funding news media, there’s obviously a potential for government/political parties meddling with how news is presented or decision-making is affected based on what they think the government/party wants. I’m not saying that happens with NPR, but it’s the risk you run and it’s not always evident if such things are happening.

What I have long complained about is that Tesla’s charging network was, at least in part, built with the help of government funds, and yet until recently was exclusive to Tesla Vehicles. And now the only reason it’s being opened up to 3rd party vehicle brands is… wait for it… more government subsidies. $2.5B over 5 years in subsidies to open *part* of their network. Oh yeah, and non-Tesla vehicles are charged more unless you buy a subscription.

It’s also worth noting I find some of the subsidies for EVs… and especially PEV’s absolutely ridiculous. Sorry, but I don’t think our tax dollars should be subsidizing $80,000 MSRP vehicles. It’s off the list now but up until recently you could get a $7,500 tax credit on a BMW X5 45e up to $80k MSRP with the same mpg as the gas model once the 31mi of battery is depleted (likely a very idealized range). I’m not convinced anything close to all owners will end up routinely charging the battery. At this point, if the government capped the MSRP at say $50k, you’d hopefully see manufacturers pushing to make more affordable EV’s which means more people can afford them meaning a greater impact overall.

As someone in one of the highest tax brackets, I find it absolutely atrocious my wife’s father got thousands in tax credits (IIRC $7500 federal + $1500 state + other state incentives like free registration + plates?) on his $100,000 2016? Model S. Yes it was a different time, but at that price point $9k isn’t that relevant for someone willing to spend that much on a car as it is. I understand the benefit of subsidizing new tech, but at this price point it’s ridiculous.

But when has the government ever been sensible with things like this?

 

[Eric]

Just wanted to see what the healthcare community is recommending for the COVID booster and this was the top tweet.

 

[Cmaier]

Just wanted to see what the healthcare community is recommending for the COVID booster and this was the top tweet.

View attachment 23261

I’ve been hesitating to talk about it, because i am obviously a huge proponent of vaccines, and I will continue to take every flu and covid vaccine I can get.

But I am having surgery in a couple weeks to repair a bunch of issues in my left shoulder, which is where I get all my covid and flu shots. It’s possible that the injuries are related to the vaccine. There’s a syndrome called SIRVA that matches the symptoms and the damage seen on the MRI. It could also just be genetics and wear and tear. Or a combination of all of that. Figuring that out is probably something for another day, once I see what my out of pocket costs are

Anyway, they are going to shave down some bone so that my tendon stops rubbing against it, and they are going to cut another tendon and pin it to my arm bone. Oughta be fun.

 

[Roller]

I’ve been hesitating to talk about it, because i am obviously a huge proponent of vaccines, and I will continue to take every flu and covid vaccine I can get.

But I am having surgery in a couple weeks to repair a bunch of issues in my left shoulder, which is where I get all my covid and flu shots. It’s possible that the injuries are related to the vaccine. There’s a syndrome called SIRVA that matches the symptoms and the damage seen on the MRI. It could also just be genetics and wear and tear. Or a combination of all of that. Figuring that out is probably something for another day, once I see what my out of pocket costs are

Anyway, they are going to shave down some bone so that my tendon stops rubbing against it, and they are going to cut another tendon and pin it to my arm bone. Oughta be fun.

Sorry that you're experiencing those symptoms. It's possible the mRNA vaccines are more likely to cause SIRVA than other types, but it isn't a side effect of the vaccine per se. Rather, it's thought to be a result of injection into the synovial tissues of the shoulder joint. It's been described since at least 2010.

As for vaccines, guidance for people who've received the full primary series and boosters, including the bivalent formulation, is murky. I've read that the CDC recommends a shot for people with immune compromise, but there's no good data to support another dose for most everyone else. Some studies suggest that vaccine-induced immunity is quite good, but others show conflicting results. As well, it seems that immunity from a combination of vaccination and COVID-19 infection is better than from vaccines alone. I expect we'll hear more later this summer.

Finally, I trust William Makis's advice as much as I did Scott Atlas's. Both are imaging specialists. None of Makis's publications on PubMed are in immunology.

 

[Cmaier]

Sorry that you're experiencing those symptoms. It's possible the mRNA vaccines are more likely to cause SIRVA than other types, but it isn't a side effect of the vaccine per se. Rather, it's thought to be a result of injection into the synovial tissues of the shoulder joint. It's been described since at least 2010.

As for vaccines, guidance for people who've received the full primary series and boosters, including the bivalent formulation, is murky. I've read that the CDC recommends a shot for people with immune compromise, but there's no good data to support another dose for most everyone else. Some studies suggest that vaccine-induced immunity is quite good, but others show conflicting results. As well, it seems that immunity from a combination of vaccination and COVID-19 infection is better than from vaccines alone. I expect we'll hear more later this summer.

Finally, I trust William Makis's advice as much as I did Scott Atlas's. Both are imaging specialists. None of Makis's publications on PubMed are in immunology.

I don’t disagree. There are some reported differences in the types of symptoms depending on the vaccine, but the triggering event always seems to be a badly located injection. Like I said, I was hesitant to mention it, and I will continue to take any vaccine they offer me. Not looking forward to surgery and a few months of physical therapy though.

 

[Eric]

Sorry that you're experiencing those symptoms. It's possible the mRNA vaccines are more likely to cause SIRVA than other types, but it isn't a side effect of the vaccine per se. Rather, it's thought to be a result of injection into the synovial tissues of the shoulder joint. It's been described since at least 2010.

As for vaccines, guidance for people who've received the full primary series and boosters, including the bivalent formulation, is murky. I've read that the CDC recommends a shot for people with immune compromise, but there's no good data to support another dose for most everyone else. Some studies suggest that vaccine-induced immunity is quite good, but others show conflicting results. As well, it seems that immunity from a combination of vaccination and COVID-19 infection is better than from vaccines alone. I expect we'll hear more later this summer.

Finally, I trust William Makis's advice as much as I did Scott Atlas's. Both are imaging specialists. None of Makis's publications on PubMed are in immunology.

Sound advice all the way around here, you sound like a subject matter expert and it's appreciated. I have COPD (have remained mild for several years) and typically my doctors are telling me to get both flu and COVID as soon as available and I've heard nothing which prompted me to look to see what may be in the pipe.

 

[dada_dave]

Finally, I trust William Makis's advice as much as I did Scott Atlas's. Both are imaging specialists. None of Makis's publications on PubMed are in immunology.

I looked up who this was (Makis) and ugh … not another one

 

[Eric]

I looked up who this was (Makis) and ugh … not another one

Lots of quacks out there but the fact that he's at the top of the search shows just how far Twitter has gone down the right wing toilet. Not just that but everyone now has the checkmark and you have no idea who is credible and who isn't anymore.

 

[dada_dave]

Btw somewhat amusing blue checks are constantly whining to Saint Elon that everyone is seeing their tweets but no one is liking them! Because visibility is why their shitty tweets didn’t go “viral” before:

 

[Roller]

Sound advice all the way around here, you sound like a subject matter expert and it's appreciated. I have COPD (have remained mild for several years) and typically my doctors are telling me to get both flu and COVID as soon as available and I've heard nothing which prompted me to look to see what may be in the pipe.

To be transparent, I'm not a specialist in infectious disease, virology, or epidemiology. But I've followed the literature and public guidance closely since the start of the pandemic, and am happy to offer whatever information I can here.

 

[dada_dave]

 

[diamond.g]

Sure- though I’m not sure that’s very relevant when buying a car. Especially when most other American brands either have received direct funding/loan or subsidies. When the government is funding news media, there’s obviously a potential for government/political parties meddling with how news is presented or decision-making is affected based on what they think the government/party wants. I’m not saying that happens with NPR, but it’s the risk you run and it’s not always evident if such things are happening.

What I have long complained about is that Tesla’s charging network was, at least in part, built with the help of government funds, and yet until recently was exclusive to Tesla Vehicles. And now the only reason it’s being opened up to 3rd party vehicle brands is… wait for it… more government subsidies. $2.5B over 5 years in subsidies to open *part* of their network. Oh yeah, and non-Tesla vehicles are charged more unless you buy a subscription.

It’s also worth noting I find some of the subsidies for EVs… and especially PEV’s absolutely ridiculous. Sorry, but I don’t think our tax dollars should be subsidizing $80,000 MSRP vehicles. It’s off the list now but up until recently you could get a $7,500 tax credit on a BMW X5 45e up to $80k MSRP with the same mpg as the gas model once the 31mi of battery is depleted (likely a very idealized range). I’m not convinced anything close to all owners will end up routinely charging the battery. At this point, if the government capped the MSRP at say $50k, you’d hopefully see manufacturers pushing to make more affordable EV’s which means more people can afford them meaning a greater impact overall.

As someone in one of the highest tax brackets, I find it absolutely atrocious my wife’s father got thousands in tax credits (IIRC $7500 federal + $1500 state + other state incentives like free registration + plates?) on his $100,000 2016? Model S. Yes it was a different time, but at that price point $9k isn’t that relevant for someone willing to spend that much on a car as it is. I understand the benefit of subsidizing new tech, but at this price point it’s ridiculous.

But when has the government ever been sensible with things like this?

You can still get some benefit of the tax break even if the vehicle is over 80k. You just gotta lease it.

 

[dada_dave]

The flame diversion system is part of that "better launchpad". If you want X lbs of force pushing the rocket up, you have X lbs of force pushing down pointed right at whatever is below the rocket. You gotta do something about that force one way or another. You can't magic it away, so you either need a surface that can withstand the force (something even harder to do off the surface of the planet), or divert it away from where it can damage infrastructure.

About the only way to get around Newton's 3rd Law is to discover anti-gravity. (EDIT: Or figure out skyhooks and/or space elevators)



I thought we weren't using Super Heavy on the moon though. Starship itself is much lower thrust and has different requirements as the Moon and Mars are both a fraction of the gravity well you need to escape. Vacuum tuned nozzles are not going to be focusing the thrust the same way as the nozzles used on Super Heavy. So the requirements on how to handle/divert thrust will be different.



Government programs are notoriously hard to kill, even when they are late.



So instead they risk contaminating the water table. Awesome.



I'd love to be a fly on the wall of those discussions.



There's criticizing SpaceX/Musk for not doing due diligence on new stuff, and there's criticizing SpaceX/Musk for not doing due diligence on everything we already knew from launching rockets for decades. Stuff that SpaceX themselves should already be aware of as this isn't their first rocket.

This isn't anything like SpaceX blowing up a bunch of first stages trying to land on a barge. This is SpaceX throwing out already learned lessons creating hazards for themselves and others to do what? A 4/20 launch which makes Musk chuckle a bit at a weed joke?



No disagreement there, but it'd be nice if we made new mistakes here rather than watching Gilded Age: Space Edition.

As for Moon/Mars, I look at that more as a way to walk before running. If we wait to find another habitable planet before understanding how to get humans from A to B in space, and how to get humans to survive long term trips, there's not much point in doing anything in space other than flood it with satellites and flirt with Kessler Syndrome.

Someone wrote a rather damning update on the launch:

Starship II: A Reprise

Et tu, Starship?

lavieohana.medium.com

I’m not in a position to judge the quality of the content, so I thought I’d post for those who know more than I.

 

[Cmaier]

Musk reverses on public service tweets.

Twitter just realized it was dumb to cut off automated public service tweets

Twitter reversed what may have been its least popular change yet under Musk.

arstechnica.com

 

[Eric]

Just wow...

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1173422311/elon-musk-npr-twitter-reassign

Elon Musk threatens to reassign @NPR on Twitter to 'another company'​

Elon Musk has threatened to reassign NPR's Twitter account to "another company."

In a series of emails sent to this reporter, Musk said he would transfer the network's main account on Twitter, under the @NPR handle, to another organization or person. The idea shocked even longtime observers of Musk's spur-of-the-moment and erratic leadership style.

Handing over established accounts to third parties poses a serious risk of impersonation and could imperil a company's reputation, said social media experts.

"If this is a sign of things to come on Twitter, we might soon see even more of a rapid retreat by media organizations and other brands that don't think it's worth the risk," said Emily Bell, a professor at Columbia Journalism School who studies social media. "It's really an extraordinary threat to make."

 

[Cmaier]

Just wow...

https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1173422311/elon-musk-npr-twitter-reassign

Elon Musk threatens to reassign @NPR on Twitter to 'another company'​

Elon’s going to learn an important lesson about trademark infringement.

 

[dada_dave]

Musk going on a just asking questions white supremacy binge (I should add the response is how the person who took the screenshot responded, not Musk).

 

[Eric]

Hi racism should come as no surprise.

Elon Musk Left a South Africa That Was Rife With Misinformation and White Privilege (Published 2022)

The apartheid era created all-white enclaves littered with anti-Black government propaganda and sheltered from the atrocities of apartheid.

www.nytimes.com

Elon Musk Left a South Africa That Was Rife With Misinformation and White Privilege​

The apartheid era created all-white enclaves littered with anti-Black government propaganda and sheltered from the atrocities of apartheid.

 

[dada_dave]