A three-star U.S. Army general thinks that Elon Musk’s foreign business relationships could make him a significant threat to national security.
Retired Lieutenant General Russel Honoré argued in a Sunday New York Times column that the SpaceX CEO’s willingness to capitulate to Chinese demands over the years should make his recent influence within Trump’s circle all the more questionable.
Honoré referenced 2023 quotes from Musk’s DOGE buddy Vivek Ramaswamy to make his case. “I have no reason to think Elon won’t jump like a circus monkey when Xi Jinping calls in the hour of need,” Ramaswamy said in an interview. “It’s deeply concerning that @elonmusk met with China’s foreign minister yesterday to oppose decoupling and referred to the U.S. & Communist China as ‘conjoined twins,’” he wrote in another statement that year. “The U.S. needs leaders who aren’t in China’s pocket.”
Ramaswamy has since made amends with Musk, but his concerns still apply. Musk and SpaceX have already been flagged thrice by the Air Force, the Defense Department’s Office of Inspector General, and the undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security for failing to disclose his meetings with foreign leaders, something his current security clearance requires him to do. And his China business isn’t going anywhere either.
Musk has borrowed at least $1.4 billion from Chinese government–controlled banks to pay for his massive Tesla “gigafactory” in Shanghai. He borrowed this money knowing full well that China’s laws allow the Chinese Communist Party to demand information from any company doing business in China in exchange for doing business there—a huge red flag for Honoré.
“Mr. Musk’s business dealings in China could require him to hand over sensitive classified information, learned either through his business interests or his proximity to President-elect Donald Trump. No federal agency has accused him of disclosing such material, but as Mr. Ramaswamy put it, China has recognized that U.S. companies are fickle,” Honoré wrote. “Mr. Musk’s relationship with China’s leaders could prove a problem for America’s national security given that SpaceX has a near monopoly on the United States’ rocket launches … the last thing the United States needs is for China to potentially have an easier way of obtaining classified intelligence and national security information.”
This has drawn the ire of Democrats and Republicans alike. In 2022, Senator Marco Rubio accused Tesla of obstructing justice for the CCP, and in 2023 he introduced a bill to stop NASA and other federal agencies from giving contracts to companies connected to the Chinese Communist Party. Two Democratic senators very recently called for a probe into Musk’s “reliability as a government contractor and a clearance holder” because of his reported phone call with Vladimir Putin.
The line between civilian and elected official has become blurrier as Musk further cements himself as part of Trump’s inner circle. As Honoré wrote, the world’s richest man funding Trump’s return to the presidency “does not give the incoming White House the license to look the other way at the national security risks he may pose.”
The Mask Seller by Cesare Mariani
The comedian went off on billionaires in a recent podcast episode, comparing them to rabid dogs who need to be put down.
Bill made the comments on his "Monday Morning Podcast" ... blaming billionaires for dividing the country, hoarding all the wealth and creating a situation where working people can't afford rent and need two jobs just to stay afloat.
BB says way too many people are stressing out about bills, and he says anyone who works a regular job should be able to afford their basic necessities.
Have you ever looked closely at a car windshield?
The edge of the glass is painted where it is glued to the car but it has these small dots between the clear and painted glass.
These are there for a reason. When the sun hits the glass the painted areas and the clear areas will absorb heat at different rates. This causes the glass to expand and contract differently putting stress on the glass.
These dots help the glass to warm up more evenly over a larger area so the glass does not suffer stress that could cause it to spontaneously explode.
Fun fact: the Tesla cybertruck doesn’t have these.
Yes, the glass will spontaneously crack or explode in the sun.
I can write the saddest poem of all tonight. I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
Pablo Neruda / Tonight I Can Write
I think right now, while America is starting yet another global economic crisis is the best time to talk about this one issue. Because oh boy, it sure is an issue. And I think everyone who follows politics in some regard has come across one example of this.
One fairly centrist (lets face it, most of them are not even left) politician goes: "Maybe actually we should just help people/keep our infrastructure running."
To which a conservative or right wing politician will inevitably go: "Yeah, but how do you pay for that? It is not as if I am against it (a total lie), but it is jsut not viable! We do not have the money for it!"
The same arguement also gets pulled on any actually further left-wing idea like Universal Basic Income or such.
The thing is: This answer is a lie from beginning to end. We do know for a fact that any sort of social spending pays for itself - and to help it over thestart issues can be absolutely financed by putting a bit more tax on the wealthy and the companies.
Outside of those Chicago School morons (the ones who still proclaim trickle-down-economics, a by now disproven idea of economics, totally works) pretty much every person working in economics - no matter how much they hate this fact - does agree that indeed, it works.
Lets just go through a couple of examples, alright?
Single-Payer Healthcare: This is easily proven given that a lot of countries have implemented this in one way or another. This very much improves medical outcomes, and lessons the costs of healthcare within the country. Mainly due to the healthcare being paid more fairly, but also due to people actually getting healthcare easier, as they do not need to take out a loan if they stay in the hospital for three days. Plus: People who are healthy are able to do better work, and do hence end up adding more to the economy - if you care about that. (I don't, but you know those psychopaths do.)
Giving Homeless People Homes: This is one that basically so far only Finland does. Homeless people in Finland receive homes through the state - and guess what: Not only do most of them succeed to gain stability in their lives, but they also cost the state a lot less money this way, than if they live in the streets. Win win for everyone.
Making all education free: Again, this one is fairly self-explanatory. Any sort of academic work - from education to research - usually helps the economy. Educated people provide more value for the economy. Research done at the universities often improves the economy. Like, even outside from a general "education is good" thing... If you care about the economy, you want this.
Paying for infrastructure: You know what any sort of economic thing needs to work? Yeah, infrastructure. They will need streets, water, electricity, internet access and shit. If you provide it for free, the companies will more likely settle where you provide this - and you then can tax them.
Universal Basic Income: Let's talk about a more controversal one. But we by now have studies over studies that is proving the concept. Yeah, if you just give all people money, it will help your country and your economy. People who receive money will get more educated, they will take better care of their families, they are more healthy, they eat better, they might start their own businesses. And it is easily paid for by just taxing companies and the super rich so little, that they would barely even notice it - given how filthy rich they are. And normally poor people that have more money to spend, will actually spend it. Shocking, I know!
Privatization and punishing poor people actually tends to cost the state and everyone a whole lot more money than otherwise.
But of course this is not why the conservatives are against it. Most of them know the numbers quite well - but they do not care. Because all that they care about is that those few people who are super rich and finance their political careers to get more and more money - money that they do not need and will hoard like the dragons of yore.
Meanwhile - as Americans are finding out in real time - the financial methods the conservatives are using do not work and have been proven to not work.
Tax cuts for the rich? Yeah, that got us into this issue to begin with. Trickle down economics do not work. And Tariffs? They just make everything more expensive for everyone.
Again: This is not like the conservatives do not know this. They do. Or rather, I certainly hope they do. Because there is simply two options: Either they know this and are lying about that to profit, or they are uneducated morons, who should not be in the position they are, because they clearly do lack the necessary education and abilities to understand complex systems.
But no, fact is: They are lying.
We can pay for this. We always could. For a long time we did. But then things went horribly wrong.
Kate Chopin, from The Awakening