About Trump’s Election

I mostly agree with Eric Weinstein about Trump. Weinstein recently tweeted his position:

I will say it simply. @realDonaldTrump and @JDVance have the opportunity to change everything. Everything depends on @realDonaldTrump’s use of this historic opportunity. This could restore America. Or tank it.

To say it my way, this is the highest *variance* presidency of my lifetime. As bad as Kamala was (and you know my position) she was probably lower variance. Lower variance and much lower mean.

This is potentially amazing because the sky is the limit. Given the chance, I will help anyone to use this mandate to make it the best presidency it can possibly be. But you can’t ask me to close my eyes to the risks. I’m just not that guy. Never was and never will be. This is incredibly dangerous as we are seated at the high stakes table now.

I don’t understand Americans who want Trump to fail. I think he is a brilliant man which I have always said. But he is also incredibly divisive. I think he truly loves his country and wants the best for it. He is also very dangerous and unpredictable. And he NEEDS that unpredictability to survive. He is very strong. And perhaps he needs to be dangerous. I could be persuaded that this is necessary.

He learned last time that you need an sea of people to govern. He won’t make that mistake again.

Am I optimistic? Yes. Very. Am I deeply deeply worried? Absolutely. Very."

Again in my language: stop focusing on the mean. If I absolutely had to say what I am feeling, with a gun to my head I might say this is high mean, high variance, negative skew, high kurtosis.

As a weather report: this is a low confidence forecast of an amazing spring day with a bit more than a slight chance of apocalypse.

I know “But Bruh, Are you MAGA?” No. This is why we have more than one moment of a distribution and not a simple binary. MAGA is a broad coalition that seats some people who I view as “unworkable”. I can’t personally endorse a movement that tolerates that element in order to win. But I get along with plenty of MAGA People. And generally they get me. Most of them like me, understand me from podcasting, and don’t need me wearing a hat.

Lastly, you have no idea how desperately I want this to work. And it could be amazing. I think that is likely but with very weak conviction. As above.

Here to help, This is more or less what I predicted. Nothing has changed. And word to the wise: Mind the time *before* the inauguration. Don’t take your eye off the ball prematurely.

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The NYT Presents the “News”

This paragraph from an article in the New York Times speak for itself:

Mr. Kennedy has singled out Froot Loops as an example of a product with too many artificial ingredients, questioning why the Canadian version has fewer than the U.S. version. But he was wrong. The ingredient list is roughly the same, although Canada’s has natural colorings made from blueberries and carrots while the U.S. product contains red dye 40, yellow 5 and blue 1 as well as Butylated hydroxytoluene, or BHT, a lab-made chemical that is used “for freshness,” according to the ingredient label.

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Elon Musk’s Role at Tesla

I keep seeing this meme on FB. I suspect it's an attempt to argue that Elon Musk hasn't done anything significant at Tesla. I hear this all the time from people who don't like Musk. But facts first: Courtesy of Grok, here's a summary of what Musk does at Tesla:

Elon Musk holds the position of CEO at Tesla, where he is also referred to as the "Technoking of Tesla," a title he adopted in 2021. His responsibilities at Tesla include:

Product Design and Engineering: Musk leads all product design, engineering, and global manufacturing of Tesla's electric vehicles, battery products, and solar energy products. This involves overseeing the development from concept to production.

Strategic Direction: As CEO, he sets the strategic direction for the company, focusing on Tesla's mission to accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy.

Innovation and Technology Leadership: Musk is deeply involved in the innovation process, often directly contributing to technological advancements, especially in areas critical to Tesla like autonomy (Full Self-Driving or FSD), battery technology, and robotics (like the Optimus project).

Corporate Governance: Although he stepped down as chairman of Tesla's board in 2018 due to an SEC settlement, he remains a significant influence in corporate governance decisions due to his role as CEO and his ownership stake.

Public Representation: Musk represents Tesla publicly, including at investor meetings, product launches, and on social media platforms like X, where he communicates with customers, fans, and critics alike, influencing public perception and company culture.

Operational Oversight: Recent reports indicate that Musk now oversees Tesla's sales operations in several key regions including North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, highlighting his hands-on approach in operational aspects of the business.

His role has been described as integral to Tesla's identity and success, with some suggesting that his influence is so significant that Tesla thrives largely due to his direct involvement in innovation and management.

What happened to Tarpenning ad Eberhard. Grok's explanation is much more nuanced than the meme: "Did musk push out Mark Tarpenning and martin Eberhard from tesla?

Grok's Answer

The narrative around Elon Musk's relationship with Tesla's co-founders, Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, involves several perspectives:

Foundation of Tesla: Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning founded Tesla in 2003. Musk joined the company as an investor in 2004, bringing in significant capital and becoming chairman of the board.

Musk's Involvement: Musk's role quickly grew beyond that of an investor. He was instrumental in shaping the vision and direction of Tesla, not just with his financial investment but also through his involvement in product design and strategic decisions.

Eberhard's Departure: Eberhard was removed as CEO in 2007. According to various accounts:

Musk's Perspective: Musk has stated that Eberhard was removed due to operational issues, particularly related to the production delays of the Tesla Roadster. He has described Eberhard as difficult to work with, labeling him as "the worst person I've ever worked with" in some interviews.

Eberhard's Perspective: Eberhard has claimed that Musk tried to rewrite history by claiming to be a founder of Tesla. After his departure, Eberhard sued Musk for libel, slander, and breach of contract in 2009, alleging that Musk pushed him out and attempted to diminish his contributions to Tesla. The lawsuit was settled, with part of the agreement recognizing Musk and others as co-founders alongside Eberhard and Tarpenning.

Tarpenning's Departure: Marc Tarpenning left Tesla in 2008, not under the same contentious circumstances as Eberhard. Reports suggest that Tarpenning's departure was more amicable; he stepped down around the time when the first Roadsters were being finalized for production. He has expressed no regrets about his time at Tesla and continues to be involved in the tech and startup ecosystem.

Public and Internal Perception: There's a split in perception. Some view Musk's actions as aggressive takeover tactics, while others see his involvement as crucial for Tesla's survival and growth. Musk himself has noted that his involvement was essential beyond just his financial investment, claiming that without his input, the company might not have succeeded.

Given this background, while Musk didn't "push out" Tarpenning in the same manner as Eberhard (Tarpenning's exit was less dramatic), Musk's growing influence and direct involvement in key decisions did lead to significant changes in leadership at Tesla. Eberhard's departure was indeed contentious, involving legal action, whereas Tarpenning's was more about transitioning from his role at a pivotal time in Tesla's development.

The situation reflects a complex interplay of ambition, vision, and business strategy, where Musk's assertive leadership style and vision for Tesla played a critical role in these transitions.

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What People are Missing if They Aren’t reading X (Twitter)

It's wild out there in the lands of Politics and Culture. I've been doing some collecting and I'd like to offer some of the things that especially caught my attention recently.

Glenn Greenwald is on fire. Here he is once again pointing out DNC/Corporate Media Hypocrisy:

I've lost count of the people who have told me that they don't know what Robert F. Kennedy actually says and they don't want to find out. And then They claim that he is "anti-vax" and a "conspiracy theorist," as though saying that is a substitute for knowledge. Michael Shellenberger comments:

This really happened. How could EVERYONE in the corporate media forget?

The Ukraine war (which has killed 600,000 Ukrainians so far) must must must go on because . . . trust us . . . says Anthony Blinken, neocon in Joe Biden's cabinet and one of the architects of the Iraq War.

Tulsi Gabbard was really put on this list this year after she expressed a political position in support of Trump. Everything else here is absolutely true. Does this sound like America?

It's guaranteed won't hear these things about Matt Gaetz at your favorite corporate media outlets. Independent journalist Lee Fang will tell you:

If really you'd like to learn RFK, Jr's positions on important topics (and you should want to know them), here are some of his main points, succinctly set out and annotated:

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Big Pharma (Merck) and Vioxx: A Case Study

Dr. Aseem Malhotra Presents:

Dr. Aseem Malhotra: " So when the FDA were alerted that there was a cardiovascular problem with Vioxx, that at least double the risk of heart attack, strokes, death, for example, they wrote to Merck. And what did Merck do? They ignored that the FDA said there should be a black box warning on the packaging. And they doubled down on their marketing."

"They purchased more reprints from the Journal of Medicine, where the original trial was published, because their aim was that every single doctor in the United States... which should have a copy of that so-called peer-reviewed journal article in Jung Journal Medicine so they could prescribe Vioxx."

"Now, when I give lectures and I explain this to people, I ask people from the audience, and they're shocked, like, how would he describe this behavior? And people come up with all sorts of things—evil, murderer. But the actual definitive or the best diagnosis to describe this behavior by these companies, which isn't my opinion, although I agree with it, it comes from Robert Hare, forensic classification of psychopathy."

"And he says big corporations, in the way that they conduct their business, they're pathologically self-interested, actually fulfill all the criteria for psychopath as entities. So that means incapacity to experience guilt, repeated lying, conning others for profit. You know, there are so many criteria that they fulfill."

Continue ReadingBig Pharma (Merck) and Vioxx: A Case Study