Sept 12, 2023 17:09:06 GMT Gyro LC said:

Sept 12, 2023 16:25:59 GMT iNCY said:

I don't know about this, it might be the case... But Russia hasn't hit Ukraine with everything it has, there is a good chance it could wipe the entire country off the map in a week if it so desired.
Whether or not the ICBM missles would work, there is little doubt Russia has functional tactical nukes which are enough to illicit Armageddon on their own.

Russia does not seem to have the conventional firepower available to subdue Ukraine, let alone wipe it off the map without using nukes. Downed Russian cruise and ICBM missiles have very recent manufacturing dates stamped on them. They appear to have used their stockpiles and are down to JIT delivery. In addition, Ukraine has a pretty good air defense network. The two Patriot missile batteries are even capable of shooting down ICBM and the vaulted hypersonic missile wonder weapon, although they have limited coverage.

Russia has a much larger air force than Ukraine, yet does not have anything close to air superiority. In theory Russia should be able to flood the skies with planes and bomb Ukraine's army senseless, but they haven't. It's curious. Is Russia holding them back to deter other threats (eg - China)? Are the planes not air worthy? Do they not have enough pilots and ground crews? Are they afraid of Ukraine's air defense?

I don't think we know the answer to this question.
Are they "afraid" of Ukraine's air defenses?
Well I think they value their MiG's more than they value their strategic objectives in Ukraine.
They probably well learnt the lesson of fighting the mujāhidūn and what some ignorant farmer can do with a shoulder launched stinger missile.

There is a chance that this is as good as the Russian military gets
There is a chance that if required 9/10 nukes they launch won't reach their destination.

These are some serious gambles, I am not willing to die for some shitty farmland.
If they take Kiev and make advances on Poland it is a different story.

In the Russian media, it is not hard to sell this as Russia defending it's sovereign rights.
There are some real and imagined actions Putin could draw a parallel to with the Cuban Missile Crisis and Kennedy drawing a line in the sand.

Gonna be an awkward week for Musk. His bio that just released documented him shit talking Trump as an idiot and con-man. Also confirmed many of the FCC and FTC complaints that Musk's management style violates regulations he is supposed to be engaging in as he simply does not believe moderation and privacy regulation applies to him. US may not do anything about it, but he was warned prior by the EU that he is not in compliance and Musk is making no moves to remedy.

Also a few hours ago Starlink went down again in the Ukraine before a Ukraine counteroffensive strike.

Senate dems are calling for an investigation into SpaceX as well, to determine if they complied with the contracts they had with the DOJ, and calls are out to sever all government contracts with SpaceX for national security reasons. 

Sept 12, 2023 16:25:59 GMT iNCY said:

Sept 11, 2023 21:58:40 GMT Gyro LC said:

This is all a replay of the run up to WW2. Hitler annexes the Sudetenland because of its German-speaking population. The UK, France, and Italy allowed it because Hitler promised that was all the land he wanted. Neville Chamberlain declares the deal ensured "peace for our time." How did that work out?

Putin has explicitly said he wants to restore the Russian Empire and prevent the expansion of NATO. For years he's been going after pieces of the Caucaus. Then took Crimea. Then invaded Ukraine. If Putin is appeased by the EU/NATO leaving Ukraine on their own and basically surrendering the currently occupied lands, then he will wait a few years to rearm then take the rest of Ukraine. Then moves on to Moldova where he already has a similar breakaway territory in Transnistra. It's brutal now, but any appeasement gives Russia time to rearm and attack closer to full strength, which would likely be even worse.

Let's play devil's advocate here.
Rewind to pre-WW2 and Hitler takes Sudetenland
The West did nothing because Hitler said he would have stopped, but then he didn't and invaded Poland and the rest is history.

So imagine instead the West had have attacked before Poland and imagine that Hitler hadn't planned to go any further than Sudetenland
38 million died in WW2, how did it hurt historically to wait until Hitler over-reached into Poland?
If there was a 5% chance you could save 38 million lives, would you take it?

Sept 12, 2023 8:37:22 GMT Gyro LC said:

Russia’s struggles in Ukraine have shown that it is a shitty, tinpot army, but nukes keep others at bay with MAD. Poland or Finland could whip Russia because of superior air power.

I don't know about this, it might be the case... But Russia hasn't hit Ukraine with everything it has, there is a good chance it could wipe the entire country off the map in a week if it so desired.
Whether or not the ICBM missles would work, there is little doubt Russia has functional tactical nukes which are enough to illicit Armageddon on their own.

Sept 12, 2023 10:49:18 GMT c said:

Naw but the Ukraine made it clear if the US were to say invade Mexico, the world will likely not do shit to interfere even if we do annex it after.

Well, the world didn't do shit when you annexed Iraq (Twice) and Afghanistan...
Nobody would do anything if you invaded Mexico under the pretense of ending narco-terrorism.

Oh yeah he’ll stop, this time for sure. Btw I was wondering if I can interest you in some time share property in Florida? And also , what are your bank passwords. I promise I won’t use them.

Sept 13, 2023 16:29:24 GMT All34LOL said:

Sept 12, 2023 16:25:59 GMT iNCY said:

Let's play devil's advocate here.
Rewind to pre-WW2 and Hitler takes Sudetenland
The West did nothing because Hitler said he would have stopped, but then he didn't and invaded Poland and the rest is history.

So imagine instead the West had have attacked before Poland and imagine that Hitler hadn't planned to go any further than Sudetenland
38 million died in WW2, how did it hurt historically to wait until Hitler over-reached into Poland?
If there was a 5% chance you could save 38 million lives, would you take it?


I don't know about this, it might be the case... But Russia hasn't hit Ukraine with everything it has, there is a good chance it could wipe the entire country off the map in a week if it so desired.
Whether or not the ICBM missles would work, there is little doubt Russia has functional tactical nukes which are enough to illicit Armageddon on their own.

Well, the world didn't do shit when you annexed Iraq (Twice) and Afghanistan...
Nobody would do anything if you invaded Mexico under the pretense of ending narco-terrorism.

Oh yeah he’ll stop, this time for sure. Btw I was wondering if I can interest you in some time share property in Florida? And also , what are your bank passwords. I promise I won’t use them.

So which of the three choices are you advocating for?

Cough up the passwords and we’ll talk.

Whether it was right or wrong to demand The Sudetenland back, it was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of WW1, and living there were millions of ethnic Germans. So, sure.. I may not agree with Hilter, but he had a point. And I'm sure, given his cult of personality, a lot of Germans agreed with him or both sides of the border.

It would be like fighting a war, losing it, and having a massive debt to pay, and then losing Tasmania to New Zealand and those Kiwi bastards declaring themselves a new country call Taszealandia and not expecting us to ask for it back eventually. Even by force.

You can see the similarity between it and the current attempted annexation in/of Ukraine.

This is the difficult part of this entire conflict, those lines have changed so many times over centuries, all borders have lost meaning.

Sept 12, 2023 7:06:53 GMT iNCY said:

Sept 12, 2023 1:06:38 GMT KJ said:

So let me clarify … you think Putin should be allowed to invade and take their land? And when is that not acceptable?

Oh man, you have zero comprehension.
Putin invading Eastern Ukraine is absolutely unacceptable in every sense of the word.... so which of the three proposed outcomes do you choose? And how would your decision be affected if your loved ones were dying?

No, I have complete comprehension.

It’s unacceptable … except any action to stop it sucks, therefore … we’ll accept it.

This topic has gone completely off topic, that topic being the many, many successes of Elon Musk. Probably need to more it into the Russia thread.

But headlines like this...

" North Korea's Kim Jong Un vows full support for Russia's 'just fight' after viewing launchpads with Vladimir Putin "

" After touring launch pads with Mr Putin at a remote space base in Russia's far east, Mr Kim expressed "full and unconditional support" and said Pyongyang would always stand with Moscow on the "anti-imperialist" front.

The leaders met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome for a summit that underscores how their interests are aligning in the face of their countries' separate, intensifying confrontations with the US. "

Hey, boys... optics. Let's not start signing pacts and start World War 3.

The world is full of hypocrisy, who is demanding Israel return to its historically recognised territory and return the land it grabbed during conflict?

Who cares that the USA levelled Iraq aand Afghanistan and has now surrendered it to terrorists?

The history of this planet is the strong taking from the weak,we just get to the top of the pile and have the luxury of having strong moral opinions...

Don't get me wrong Russia is in the wrong and Putin is a piece of shit...

Future Teslas are about to become nearly unrepairable. Musk planning to mold the entire underside of the Tesla, and front and rear cabs as a single part. The reason almost no one else does this is because while it reduces production costs, repair costs go skyhigh. Which likely is the goal.

news.yahoo.com/gigacasting-2-0-tesla-reinvents-100727303.html

Australian Tesla Model Y new car sales are +127.5% on last year for August with 2,314 units sold. The highest selling car as a comparison was the Hilux at 5,700. It makes the Model Y the 8th most popular new car sold in Oz for the month.

www.goauto.com.au/news/vfacts/sales-2023/vfacts-records-broken-in-august/2023-09-05/91883.html#:~:text=Sales%20in%20Victoria%20rose%2016.3,for%20importers%20and%20consumers%20alike.

Tesla also +33.7% overall for new car sales in August in the US vs last year. And the Model Y was also up +77% in July.

www.marklines.com/en/statistics/flash_sales/automotive-sales-in-usa-by-month#:~:text=With%20vehicle%20inventories%20improved%20since,U.S.%20market%20share%20of%204.4%25.

The Model Y is also the third highest seeing car in The UK year-to-date, and was second in August as registered EVs in The UK grew by 72% on last year.

www.google.com/amp/s/insideevs.com/news/685276/uk-plugin-car-sales-august2023/amp/

As of 2 weeks ago, The Model Y is still the highest selling car in the world for 2023...

www.greencars.com/news/the-tesla-model-y-is-the-best-selling-car-in-the-world#:~:text=An%20EV%20That%20Tops%20The,in%20new%20car%20sales%20worldwide.

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The take...

Armchair experts are saying, Elon should just pack up all his shit now and forgot about all of this continual improvement and innovation in the sector - because he's clearly failing at building cars, nor does anyone want to buy them. " Consumers are stupid! " one expert declared and " they've fallen for Elon's cult of personality and charisma! " he continued angrily. Another gentleman pointed to the Tesla share price.. " see, see.. he's swindling everyone, that's the only reason why Tesla share prices were $100 in January and they're over $276 now.. he's a fraud! "

Sure the enclosed Model Y that is coming will stay competitive against the Toyota with a solid state li-ion battery that is coming. Musk made it clear he considered that battery not viable for a Tesla.

That model will have 4 times the range of a Tesla with a 10 minute charge time to 80%.

Also losing the Chinese market is going to severely hurt Musk.  As could getting his cars banned from the highway in parts of the US, which is likely coming due to auto-driving issues and "elon mode."

Sept 14, 2023 22:54:44 GMT c said:

That model will have 4 times the range of a Tesla with a 10 minute charge time to 80%.

I'll believe it when I see it in mass-market cars.

Toyota is all in on the tech for their EVs. Either they make this happen, or they will suffer immensely as a company.

Sept 14, 2023 18:01:36 GMT c said:

Future Teslas are about to become nearly unrepairable. Musk planning to mold the entire underside of the Tesla, and front and rear cabs as a single part. The reason almost no one else does this is because while it reduces production costs, repair costs go skyhigh. Which likely is the goal.

news.yahoo.com/gigacasting-2-0-tesla-reinvents-100727303.html

Gigacasting - Geely uses the technique for the Zeekr 009 MPV and GM is reportedly using it for its upcoming flagship EV, the Cadillac Celestiq. Volvo and Hyundai have similar plans as well.

It's meant to be a key to reducing the costs of EVs. The battery pack in a modern electric car is likely to be a structural element spanning most of what is often referred to the car’s “platform” where a gas tank is not, hence the need for a different platform.

Geely is one of those Chinese brands that people online without any interest in cars pretend makes a good vehicle. The were famous for making dirt cheap - sub $9,000 - new cars 10 years ago. Good cars..

Gigacasting will mean if you damage any part of the part that was gigacasted, you need to replace the thing. Also with Musk wanting to do the undercarriage as a single part, many repairs become a lot harder as now you need to remove that massive single part before you do work.

So you will save some cash purchasing the car, but end up paying a lot more in the long run.

From what I see other companies plan to use this for frames or chassises. But only Tesla seems to want to do the undercarriage, front and back of the car in one mold, as only Musk really is obsessed with this seemless design.

Think about the price of a new Tesla, and likely think about the demographics buying them..

To pivot for a second, 25 years ago everyone said " don't buy a European car... they're expensive to repair, to fix, to service... "

But look who was buying those cars, people who could afford it.

If heaven forbid that one day something terribly goes wrong, likely they had the means to fix it. Now, everyone drives European car today, despite the fear mongers of yesteryear.

There's only a minor chance that a vehicle will need major structural work in its lifetime. Regardless of platform, it will always be expensive to fix. And having reviewed the costs, would likely be an insurance write-off if exceeding the value of the car.

Only the cheapest models are going to use this.

And it is not structural damage. Someone backs into the front of your car in a parking lot, you now need to replace the front, undercarriage and rear as it is all one connected part. And sure insurance may cover it, but rates will skyrocket to adjust to the higher expected cost following an accident.

Then you replace the plastic bumper attached to that piece.

I'm sure the industry giants looking to use this technology have considered it. I don't what to break the news to you... but they might actually be more intelligent than you. I know, it's a silly concept to get your head around.. but they might know what they're doing. Tesla, GM, Hyundai.

Sept 14, 2023 23:55:35 GMT c said:

Gigacasting will mean if you damage any part of the part that was gigacasted, you need to replace the thing. Also with Musk wanting to do the undercarriage as a single part, many repairs become a lot harder as now you need to remove that massive single part before you do work.

So you will save some cash purchasing the car, but end up paying a lot more in the long run.

From what I see other companies plan to use this for frames or chassises. But only Tesla seems to want to do the undercarriage, front and back of the car in one mold, as only Musk really is obsessed with this seemless design.

I don't agree with this take.
Also not saying Musk is correct as I am no fan boy...

The reason the traditional method of car manufacturing existed was not for repairability, but the concept of a car being the transmission of power from the engine to the four wheels, the car was then designed around this engineering concept.

EV have a fundentally different design principal, there is no drive train, no diff no transmission, this is what makes gigacasting possible.
Musk still has an insanely high valued company, pushing the boundaries of new engineering technologies is what he should be doing... he just needs to make sure he has it right.

Musk got one of his wishes, House GOP and Senate GOP are fighting on Twitter over sending Ukraine missiles to strike within Russia. Senate wants it, House does not.  But Twitter seems to be where the policy fight is taking place, not Congress.

Elon talking again about making Twitter pay to use claiming it is the only way he can deal with bots. Likely will be a last ditch effort to make the site profitable since ad groups are not return due to the near monthly scandals amplified by Musk. The fight with the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish conspiracy stuff this month led to more ad flight.

Make every tweet/retweet/comment cost a nickel. Problem solved.

WSJ reporting that a Grand Jury has been convened for the DOJ's investigation of Musk. Looks like they are moving into criminal charges involving the perks he got from Tesla and what appears to be basically a money laundering like scheme where Tesla would buy stuff, then Musk's adviser's firm would repay them.  The location of the items purchased this way could never be determined.

There appears to be some talk that Tesla, Twitter and Space X are too interconnected, due to the way Musk moves talent and money, and a motion to break them up may be passed, which means Musk would have to pick one, and divest from the other two.

But looks like the DOJ and SEC are done with fines, and moving into criminal charges for Musk's refusal to follow US business laws.

Sept 19, 2023 22:10:10 GMT c said:

WSJ reporting that a Grand Jury has been convened for the DOJ's investigation of Musk. Looks like they are moving into criminal charges involving the perks he got from Tesla and what appears to be basically a money laundering like scheme where Tesla would buy stuff, then Musk's adviser's firm would repay them.  The location of the items purchased this way could never be determined.

There appears to be some talk that Tesla, Twitter and Space X are too interconnected, due to the way Musk moves talent and money, and a motion to break them up may be passed, which means Musk would have to pick one, and divest from the other two.

But looks like the DOJ and SEC are done with fines, and moving into criminal charges for Musk's refusal to follow US business laws.

Where the USA is becoming a failed state is the way charges are pursued based on someone's political leanings. 
Musk went from saint to sinner when he bought Twitter. 

This should make everyone uncomfortable. 
No he shouldn't get a free ride and the law shouldn't look the other way, but apply the same standards to everyone. 

Sept 20, 2023 0:38:47 GMT iNCY said:

Sept 19, 2023 22:10:10 GMT c said:

WSJ reporting that a Grand Jury has been convened for the DOJ's investigation of Musk. Looks like they are moving into criminal charges involving the perks he got from Tesla and what appears to be basically a money laundering like scheme where Tesla would buy stuff, then Musk's adviser's firm would repay them.  The location of the items purchased this way could never be determined.

There appears to be some talk that Tesla, Twitter and Space X are too interconnected, due to the way Musk moves talent and money, and a motion to break them up may be passed, which means Musk would have to pick one, and divest from the other two.

But looks like the DOJ and SEC are done with fines, and moving into criminal charges for Musk's refusal to follow US business laws.

Where the USA is becoming a failed state is the way charges are pursued based on someone's political leanings. 
Musk went from saint to sinner when he bought Twitter. 

This should make everyone uncomfortable. 
No he shouldn't get a free ride and the law shouldn't look the other way, but apply the same standards to everyone. 

I feel like it was quite before then.

Can't speak for the rest of the world, obviously, but to me it was when he flipped out on that British diver who told him his submarine plan to rescue the Thai kids wouldn't work because it can't navigate around the twists and turns. That's when he went from 'industrial genius' to 'guy who bankrolls the industrial geniuses,' then when it came out how hard he was overworking his Tesla employees he became 'guy who expects you to suffer creating his personal glory.'

Sept 20, 2023 0:38:47 GMT iNCY said:

Sept 19, 2023 22:10:10 GMT c said:

WSJ reporting that a Grand Jury has been convened for the DOJ's investigation of Musk. Looks like they are moving into criminal charges involving the perks he got from Tesla and what appears to be basically a money laundering like scheme where Tesla would buy stuff, then Musk's adviser's firm would repay them.  The location of the items purchased this way could never be determined.

There appears to be some talk that Tesla, Twitter and Space X are too interconnected, due to the way Musk moves talent and money, and a motion to break them up may be passed, which means Musk would have to pick one, and divest from the other two.

But looks like the DOJ and SEC are done with fines, and moving into criminal charges for Musk's refusal to follow US business laws.

Where the USA is becoming a failed state is the way charges are pursued based on someone's political leanings. 
Musk went from saint to sinner when he bought Twitter. 

This should make everyone uncomfortable. 
No he shouldn't get a free ride and the law shouldn't look the other way, but apply the same standards to everyone. 

Spending corporate cash on personal items when you are not the sole owner of a company is illegal in the US.  That is what is being investigated and this investigation started before Musk bought twitter.

The notion that conservatives should not be able to be the target of criminal investigations or charges because they are politically conservative is such a stupid argument.  They are charged because they are criminals, not because they are conservatives.  If they do not want to get charged, don't do crime like the rest of conservatives who are not charged.  

Musk speaks openly of breaking the law, I am not sure why it is so hard to accept that not everything he does is legal.

Also this was started by the Tesla Board of Directors looking into why millions of dollars worth of materials were purchased but could not be accounted for, and why a secret project for Tesla to build Musk a glass mansion was kept from them.

Sept 20, 2023 1:06:52 GMT c said:

Sept 20, 2023 0:38:47 GMT iNCY said:

Where the USA is becoming a failed state is the way charges are pursued based on someone's political leanings. 
Musk went from saint to sinner when he bought Twitter. 

This should make everyone uncomfortable. 
No he shouldn't get a free ride and the law shouldn't look the other way, but apply the same standards to everyone. 

Spending corporate cash on personal items when you are not the sole owner of a company is illegal in the US.  That is what is being investigated and this investigation started before Musk bought twitter.

The notion that conservatives should not be able to be the target of criminal investigations or charges because they are politically conservative is such a stupid argument.  They are charged because they are criminals, not because they are conservatives.  If they do not want to get charged, don't do crime like the rest of conservatives who are not charged.  

Musk speaks openly of breaking the law, I am not sure why it is so hard to accept that not everything he does is legal.

Also this was started by the Tesla Board of Directors looking into why millions of dollars worth of materials were purchased but could not be accounted for, and why a secret project for Tesla to build Musk a glass mansion was kept from them.

Can you please change your user name to Captain Strawman

If this was started by the Tesla board of directors before he bought Twitter how is this based on his political views?