Showing posts with label Elon Musk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elon Musk. Show all posts

Friday 25 October 2024

Is Elon Musk treasonous?

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a linchpin of U.S. space efforts, has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin since late 2022. - Wall Street Journal
Two years ago, Musk refuted claims that he was in communication with Putin. However, it seems that was not entirely truthful from the world's wealthiest individual, who is now wholeheartedly backing Donald Trump in the U.S. presidential election. Meanwhile, Trump has repeatedly mentioned that he would involve the head of SpaceX and Tesla in his administration should he win re-election.

Frequent communication between the world's wealthiest individual and America's primary adversary has sparked security debates, encompassing discussions on geopolitics, commerce, and personal affairs.
Calling reports of ongoing conversations between tech billionaire Elon Musk and Russian President Vladimir Putin “concerning,” the head of NASA on Thursday called for an investigation into the bombshell accounts "if the story is true." - Raw Story

Is Elon Musk treasonous?
Musk. Image believed to be in the public domain.

I don't know anymore. Americans should know more. In detail, what are they discussing? Is Musk's behaviour treasonous? That is the big question.

"SpaceX, which operates the Starlink service, won a $1.8 billion classified contract in 2021 and is the primary rocket launcher for the Pentagon and NASA. Musk has a security clearance that allows him access to certain classified information." - Wall Street Journal

Putin is the world's enemy. Certainly America's. Even if Musk is not saying things to Putin which gives him an advantage in his war with Ukraine, the simple fact that he is cosying up to the world's most notorious mass murderer is shocking. Hasn't Musk got an ounce of decency in him?

And he is involved with doling out million dollar donations. Elon Musk is currently giving away $1 million per day to registered voters in swing states who sign a petition supporting his views on free speech and gun rights, as part of the 2024 U.S. presidential election. This daily giveaway is associated with his pro-Donald Trump super PAC, "America PAC," which Musk has supported with donations over $75 million. The initiative has raised questions about election laws concerning incentives for voter registration, drawing scrutiny from legal experts and officials as Election Day approaches.

Musk’s $1 million daily giveaway has sparked controversy due to potential conflicts with election laws, as incentivizing voter registration with money could be seen as improper. While Musk frames it as supporting free speech and Second Amendment rights, critics argue it might sway voters or disproportionately benefit specific candidates. Legal analysts and election officials are evaluating whether this campaign could violate U.S. regulations, especially in tight swing states, making it a contentious issue ahead of Election Day.

Is this Musk giveaway linked to his conversations with Putin? Another pertinent question that needs to be answered.

Treasonous: involving or guilty of the crime of betraying one's country.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.

Tuesday 6 December 2022

Allegations against Elon Musk's Neuralink business of animal abuse

It appears that some staff at Elon Musk's Neuralink business have acted as whistle-blowers (or the information has leaked out) in saying that because Musk is driving his staff very hard, they are taking shortcuts in animal testing which is resulting in at least potential animal welfare violations and possibly unnecessary deaths because mistakes are being made.

"Elon Musk’s Neuralink, is under federal investigation for potential animal welfare violations." - Metro.co.uk
Allegations of rushed animal testing experiments at Neuralink facility leading to unnecessary deaths
Allegations of rushed animal testing experiments at Neuralink facility leading to unnecessary deaths. Image: MikeB based on images in the public domain.

Musk's Neuralink business has the intention of being able to place brain implants into paralysed people to enable them to walk again. And he hopes that his technology will cure other neurological health problems in people.

In order to achieve his goal, he has to do animal testing which he reportedly dislikes but he makes sure that they are "the happiest animals" while they are alive. Sadly, they end up dead after the testing.

There is no way around the fact that animal testing is cruel, and many people believe that it is unnecessary because you can create artificial models which substitute animal testing.

Perhaps this isn't applicable in this instance, and Mr Musk is reliant upon the testing of animals including pigs. He said at the time of the launch of Neuralink that they had three pigs with coin-sized implants in each of them and they were "healthy, happy and indistinguishable from a normal pig".

And as you might know, animals under testing procedures normally end up being euthanised because the testing on them makes it unviable for them to live afterwards. So, the basic concept of animal testing is immoral.

Sky News reports that there have been internal complaints by Neuralink staffers that animal testing is being rushed leading to "needless suffering and deaths" (initially reported by Reuters).

Allegedly, 280 sheep, pigs and monkeys have died following experiments since 2018.

And further, allegedly, 25 pigs were reportedly implanted with devices that were the wrong size. The error occurred it is said because the experiment was carried out without sufficient preparation.

And allegedly the cause of that error was that they were being rushed by Alan Musk applying too much pressure on staff.

Although, it has to be made clear that there are no records of violations against regulations taking place at the facility. At this stage, I stress, these are allegations. I don't want to be sued by Musk thank you very much. 😒😊😢

Neuralink has sought approval from the US Food and Drug Administration. Scientists are developing tiny implants with more than 3000 electrodes. There are attached to flexible threads which are incredibly thin about 1/10 of the diameter of a human hair which are capable of monitoring about 1000 neurons according to the report that I have seen.

Other employees interviewed by Reuters say that Neuralink treats animals quite well compared to other research facilities. The animals have been given freedom to roam and the facility has been likened to a "monkey Disneyland".

Saturday 19 November 2022

Twitter on the brink of shutdown and it's going to affect animal rescue!

I'm being very speculative in this short article, but it occurred to me that Elon Musk's approach to staff management at Twitter may have a very detrimental effect upon animal welfare across the planet. 

He's been brutal in his takeover of Twitter which has resulted in some reports suggesting that up to 75% of employees have refused to take up his offer of working long hours and providing 'exceptional performance'. To him, only that would qualify as a 'passing grade' in his words.

Twitter has seen mass resignations following an email from Mr Musk, it has been claimed. Image: Getty Images.

And therefore, there's been a mass exodus of employees. It appears that he is risking losing his $44 billion which was the price of Twitter. Apparently, he overpaid quite substantially for the social media website which is relatively small compared to websites such as Facebook. 

As I understand it, it's about 10th in the league of social media sites by size. But it is influential, and a lot of animal welfare operations rely on it for effective communication and promotion.

Elon Musk seems to be unconcerned because he said that: "We just hit another all-time high in Twitter usage". But a lot of engineers have walked out and there is a possibility that understaffing Twitter will gradually undermine the functionality of the website. 

Things will start to go wrong because not enough engineers and developers are around to fix the ongoing problems.

It appears that Elon Musk has decided that Twitter is populated by lazy staffers. He wants to weed out anybody that he considers by his standards to be lazy and not contributing enough but is he being too brutal and direct?

He's offered three months' severance for those employees who want to leave. Over the weekend he is closing down the Twitter offices. Why is he doing this? I've heard on the news that he is frightened of a disgruntled employee sabotaging Twitter.

One employee, a tech writer called Gergley Orosz said that: "[It] sounds like playing hardball does not work. Of course, it doesn't."

It would be disappointing to lose Twitter. Firstly, I don't mind in the slightest, but it would negatively impact animal welfare I believe.

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