Australian Atheists Forum

Meanwhile in mainstream media;

"Elon made an awkward gesture"

stevebrooks wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2025 6:19 pm Meanwhile in mainstream media;

"Elon made an awkward gesture"

Twice.

pipbarber wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2025 6:40 pm

stevebrooks wrote: ↑Tue Jan 21, 2025 6:19 pm Meanwhile in mainstream media;

"Elon made an awkward gesture"

Twice.

That we know of!

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... p-bromance

I don’t know what, exactly, that breakup would look like, but I can’t wait for the New Yorker cover. If these two did not possess the frightening ability to do great harm on a global scale, it could be entertaining.

A good article though i disagree with the conclusion (quoted above). They'll do far less damage apart than together, so the breakup will definitely be entertaining, no caveat required, and hopefully they burn each other to the ground.

In my view they're close to the two most detestable public figures on earth right now. A pox on them both.

pipbarber wrote: ↑Fri Jan 31, 2025 5:45 pm https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfr ... p-bromance

I don’t know what, exactly, that breakup would look like, but I can’t wait for the New Yorker cover. If these two did not possess the frightening ability to do great harm on a global scale, it could be entertaining.

A good article though i disagree with the conclusion (quoted above). They'll do far less damage apart than together, so the breakup will definitely be entertaining, no caveat required, and hopefully they burn each other to the ground.

In my view they're close to the two most detestable public figures on earth right now. A pox on them both.

I agree there, you see it won't just be apart, it will be apart as sworn enemies, the two will spend 90% of their time attacking each other, which is a lot of time the rest of the world will be spared Trump's idiocy and Musk's strange and perverted ideas.

Ooh it's getting medieval in there, Musk is just taking over the department of personal management as king! He has taken control of all the computer systems, locked out senior civil servants who are actually being paid to do stuff there and who knows what is going to happen to the data!

Musk, the billionaire Tesla (TSLA.O)
, opens new tab CEO and X owner tasked by Trump to slash the size of the 2.2 million-strong civilian government workforce, has moved swiftly to install allies at the agency known as the Office of Personnel Management.
The two officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said some senior career employees at OPM have had their access revoked to some of the department's data systems.
The systems include a vast database called Enterprise Human Resources Integration, which contains dates of birth, Social Security numbers, appraisals, home addresses, pay grades and length of service of government workers, the officials said.
"We have no visibility into what they are doing with the computer and data systems," one of the officials said. "That is creating great concern. There is no oversight. It creates real cybersecurity and hacking implications."

Let's keep this clear, he has not been elected to an Office of Government, he has not been officially appointed to a cabinet position, a committee Presidential or Congressional, a Department doesn't exist for him to work as part of, he is essentially a private citizen given access the government most important systems for which he bears no actual responsibility. He can't be held accountable by congress because he is not part of the government, the President seems willing to let him jackboot across the government, normally this would be curtailed by legal action from Attorneys General because as a private citizen he doesn't have clearance to access those systems.

I mean check this shit out, this is what he did at X and how well has that worked?

They have moved sofa beds onto the fifth floor of the agency's headquarters, which contains the director's office and can only be accessed with a security badge or a security escort, one of the OPM employees said.

And now they have access to the governments payment systems? Oh shiiiiiiiit!

David Lebryk, the top-ranking career U.S. Treasury Department official, is set to leave his post following a clash with allies of Musk after they asked for access to payment systems, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-a ... 025-01-31/

I have objections to Musk and his toxic platform for a range of reasons, many of which are at odds with mainstream thinking. But in this issue, I wonder if we are approaching a point where there could be bipartisan support for X to be banned in Australia. Fuck those nazis! Ban the fuck out of X! It would be one of those rare occasions where I was in sync with the mainstream.

Dutton might pay a price because so much of his act in other ways aligns fully with the Musk/Trump toxins.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal ... 5l852.html

stylofone wrote: ↑Sun Feb 02, 2025 10:25 am I have objections to Musk and his toxic platform for a range of reasons, many of which are at odds with mainstream thinking. But in this issue, I wonder if we are approaching a point where there could be bipartisan support for X to be banned in Australia. Fuck those nazis! Ban the fuck out of X! It would be one of those rare occasions where I was in sync with the mainstream.

Dutton might pay a price because so much of his act in other ways aligns fully with the Musk/Trump toxins.

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal ... 5l852.html

That's great news, that the coalition are worried about neo-nazis is just a tiny bit surprising, given that they're quite adept at the surreptitious dog whistle when it suits them.

The ALP really need to jump on this right now and start talking loudly about banning X. That would wedge the coalition and hopefully turn maga against Australia, which would be bad for Dutton's chances. That would be my strategy right now. What the ALP will do however, is anyone's guess.

Hmm, Musk or Trump thread? Yes, Musk thread. Trump wouldn't have a clue about Musk's playbook, as seen in the twitter takeover, and the implications of unleashing it on the central apparatus of government. It is pretty scary.

The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover
Engineers between 19 and 24, most linked to Musk’s companies, are playing a key role as he seizes control of federal infrastructure.

I think the Wired paywall will let you read one article, but here is a link to an archived version just in case:

https://archive.md/QYBhK#selection-553.0-557.132

stylofone wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2025 12:56 pm Hmm, Musk or Trump thread? Yes, Musk thread. Trump wouldn't have a clue about Musk's playbook, as seen in the twitter takeover, and the implications of unleashing it on the central apparatus of government. It is pretty scary.

The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk's Government Takeover
Engineers between 19 and 24, most linked to Musk’s companies, are playing a key role as he seizes control of federal infrastructure.

I think the Wired paywall will let you read one article, but here is a link to an archived version just in case:

https://archive.md/QYBhK#selection-553.0-557.132

Disturbing, but far from surprising.

So this feels like a hostile takeover of the machinery of governments by the richest man in the world.”

Yes, it looks like that to just about everyone who happens to be watching, even the maga crowd seem to be muttering concerns about crazy Leon.