Elon Musk: Always A Douche

[crazy canuck]

But if AWS got turned off, we'd be proper fucked.

... hopefully it won't come to that.

Datacenters are globally distributed. Just nationalize yours.

As I mentioned above, we already have our own cloud service providers, as a regulatory requirement put in place when the US implemented their Homeland security police state years ago.

[Jacob]

... so we'll be okay? We're not vulnerable to AWS being "turned off" as a part of a hypothetical economic attack by the US?

[crazy canuck]

... so we'll be okay? We're not vulnerable to AWS being "turned off" as a part of a hypothetical economic attack by the US?

As I mentioned above, if there are any Canadians using American Cloud services for anything important, they should not be.

[Iormlund]

It might have a short-term impact. It would kill AWS and Azure worldwide, though.

Alas, you can never say something is too stupid for Trump.

[Syt]

[Zanza]

The US is becoming a kleptocracy.

[Valmy]

The US is becoming a kleptocracy.

Yep.

[The Minsky Moment]

These kinds of discussions are one reason why I think protectionism is not as bad as it is portrayed, in the long term. 

Protectionism and strategic self-sufficiency are two different things. They can overlap on a Venn diagram but they aren't the same.  A country can be protectionist about a commodity that is not vital to national security and for which self-sufficiency is not required, like wine or luxury goods.  It can also seek to stockpile and subsidize production of commodities for which the country has competitive economic advantage, like the US agricultural sector.

[The Minsky Moment]

That Space X contract is actually just a part of a $2.9 billion contract.  It's a contract to design and build the lander system for manned moon missions ("HLS")

Now I am as gung ho for space exploration as anyone, but on the hierarchy of human needs, it seems to me that prevention of epidemic disease outbreaks in Africa rates a bit higher than having astronauts gather more moon rocks.

Also I can't help but notice that the official description of the HLS project states that: "The Human Landing System (HLS) is the mode of transportation that will take astronauts to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis program, including the first woman and the first person of color. "

No doubt Elon will act very quickly to cancel this wasteful and evil DEI contract.

[Sheilbh]

With Musk isn't a big part of his reason for the space stuff that he basically thinks we need a new planet? From what I understood the whole Mars obsession (apart from boylike wonder) was because of his concerns(?) fears(?) of a global catastrophe that makes earth more or less uninhabitable - which could be climate, pandemic, AI, comet etc?

So perhaps weirdly not disconnected he's just a catastrophe accelerationist

[Tonitrus]

The US is becoming a kleptocracy.

Yep.

Or returning to it...depending on one's take on the Gilded Age (though that was more perhaps the US/government not being on the field of play at all).

[crazy canuck]

The US is becoming a kleptocracy.

Yep.

Or returning to it...depending on one's take on the Gilded Age (though that was more perhaps the US/government not being on the field of play at all).

Yeah, I think the Gilded Age is more about non existent regulation, rather than government being used to enrich the oligarchs this time round.

[Josquius]

That Space X contract is actually just a part of a $2.9 billion contract.  It's a contract to design and build the lander system for manned moon missions ("HLS")

Now I am as gung ho for space exploration as anyone, but on the hierarchy of human needs, it seems to me that prevention of epidemic disease outbreaks in Africa rates a bit higher than having astronauts gather more moon rocks.

Also I can't help but notice that the official description of the HLS project states that: "The Human Landing System (HLS) is the mode of transportation that will take astronauts to the lunar surface as part of the Artemis program, including the first woman and the first person of color. "

No doubt Elon will act very quickly to cancel this wasteful and evil DEI contract.

I was thinking about this the other day too.
I guess you were being sarcastic that of course he will keep his space contract...
But I am expecting any moment for them to start shitting on the first black person and first woman plans for these moon landings.

Which incidentally.... Weren't they meant to have happened by now?
No sign of a solid launch date....


As to more important issues on earth... I suppose it's worth considering musks mindset. He is quite obsessed with this making earth a multi planetary species stuff. In the past he framed it in terms of "what if" a disaster unfolds on earth, but now I think he is at a stage of seeing earth as being fucked.
But then with his current brain worms who knows. He seems a lot more obsessed with stupid worldly concerns of identity politics and all that crap at the moment

[The Minsky Moment]

He is quite obsessed with this making earth a multi planetary species stuff. In the past he framed it in terms of "what if" a disaster unfolds on earth, but now I think he is at a stage of seeing earth as being fucked.

per sheilbh above, the concern is that he is actively seeking to accelerate catastrophe so that his post-apocalyptic plans can be carried out in his lifetime.

[viper37]

Yeah, I think the Gilded Age is more about non existent regulation, rather than government being used to enrich the oligarchs this time round.

Gilded Age was about the government using its power to protect oligarchs against small time players and any kind of menace, like Indians, Mexicans or marauding criminals often created by the system.  Then there were the wars of expansions in Cuba and Hawaii, notably.