Embedded Files
Next Meeting: 11/10/25, 7 PM, Ozark-Dale Library
Focus on Elon Musk and the Other Billionaires Influencing Our Country and Our Government
Video: Watch "The Problem With Billionaires" on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jytzozJ1wm0
Elon Musk’s politics cost his firm Tesla more than one million EV sales, report reveals | CNN Business
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/28/business/elon-musk-politics-tesla-ev-sales-intl
Billionaire Timothy Mellon Is The Mystery Donor Who Gave $130 Million To Pay Military, Report Says
Comment: "Billionaire Trump megadonor Timothy Mellon is the benefactor who gave $130 million to help the federal government pay military members during the shutdown, The New York Times reported Saturday, citing two anonymous sources."
Comment: "$50 million. That’s how much Mellon donated to the pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., in June last year, one of the largest single political donations ever recorded. He spent more than $165 million in the 2024 election cycle supporting Republicans, including a $25 million donation to Trump, according to OpenSecrets."
Comment: "Mellon is the heir to the Mellon family banking fortune and railroad magnate in his own right. Mellon, 83, is a reclusive figure who spends most of his time at his ranch in Wyoming, he told Bloomberg in a rare interview in 2020. Great-grandson of banker Thomas Mellon and grandson of former Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon, he made his first major political donation—$10 million—to a GOP super PAC in 2018, and donated $50 million to Trump in May last year, the day after Trump’s hush money conviction in New York. He’s also supported state candidates, including Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the border wall and other GOP-backed initiatives."
Comment: Given Mellon's past political contributions, do you think he is concerned about military personnel or concerned about the public image of Trump and the GOP during the government shutdown? Perhaps, it's both.
Pentagon to use $130 million donation from anonymous Trump ‘friend’ to pay military members | CNN Politics
https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/politics/anonymous-donor-military-pay-shutdown
Comment: Does anyone else think it's a bad idea to have the military beholden to an individual for its members' pay? Especially one of Trump's "friends," who is likely a billionaire?
Former billionaire turned governor turned senator tries to explain web of coal companies and net worth of ‘less than zero’
Comment: "The trail of debts — and claims made trying to collect them — that dogged Jim Justice well before he became West Virginia’s two-term Republican governor has ballooned since the former billionaire became a U.S. senator earlier this year."
Comment: "Justice, who owns dozens of businesses that include coal and agricultural operations, had a fortune estimated $1.9 billion last decade by Forbes magazine. Forbes stripped his billionaire title in 2021, when Justice’s worth had dwindled to an estimated $513 million. Earlier this year, Forbes estimated that Justice’s net worth had disintegrated to 'less than zero' due to liabilities that far exceeded assets."
"During a briefing with local media on Thursday, Justice gave a rambling defense of his companies, asserting that they 'are complicated and complex' and that his children 'are doing a magnificent job' running them. He then repeated past assertions that collection efforts against him were politically motivated, before concluding:. 'At the end of the day, I’d say just let it be and see how it all plays out.' "
"In recent weeks, the bandwagon of creditors claiming they’re owed money by Justice or his companies has gotten crowded."
"On Oct. 2, the Internal Revenue Service filed liens totaling more than $8 million against Justice and his wife, Cathy, on unpaid personal taxes that go as far back as 2009. Politico was the first to report on the liens."
"Last month, state tax officials filed $1.4 million in liens against the Justice family’s historic hotel, The Greenbrier, and the resort’s Greenbrier Sporting Club, over unpaid sales taxes."
Comment: The linked article describes other instances indicating that this GOP Senator is financially incompetent and refuses to take any financial responsibility for his debts.
Video: Trump calls off plans to send National Guard to San Francisco after calls with tech leaders - October 23, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufygzW__DEk
Comment: In an earlier interview on Fox News, Trump suggested that tech billionaires had argued for National Guard troops in San Francisico. Apparently, that sentiment wasn't popular with the public and the billionaires faced some backlash. Now Trump says that he is calling off the National Guard troop deployment at the request of the billionaires. Trump is still listening to the billionaires, but apparently the billionaires are starting to listen to the public. Let your voice be heard.
Musk, NASA chief Duffy jostle over space agency leadership
Comment: "Acting NASA chief Sean Duffy and billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday traded barbs online over who should lead the space agency, a day after Duffy invited companies to compete with Musk's SpaceX for a moon landing mission."
"The spat involving the U.S. space program and the SpaceX CEO, which have extensive financial ties, spilled into public view after Musk responded on social media platform X to reports Duffy wants to fold the National Aeronautics and Space Administration into the Transportation Department. Duffy is also the Transportation Secretary."
" 'The person responsible for America's space program can't have a 2 digit IQ,' Musk wrote."
"The day before, Duffy said on Fox News' 'Fox & Friends' program that development of SpaceX's Starship is behind schedule in its mission to return humans to the moon under the agency's Artemis program, an effort rivaling China's moon program."
"As a result, Duffy said, NASA will invite other companies to compete for the mission, which was awarded to SpaceX in 2021."
Trump claims ‘unquestioned power’ in vow to send troops to San Francisco
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/20/trump-san-francisco-troops
Comment: "President claims on Fox News ‘they want us in San Francisco’ despite opposition from city officials"
Comment: "Donald Trump has again pledged to send troops to San Francisco, claiming in a Fox News interview he has 'unquestioned power' to deploy the national guard and that residents want the military in their city."
" 'We’re gonna go to San Francisco. The difference is I think they want us in San Francisco,' Trump said in an interview with Maria Bartiromo."
"His comments came after tech billionaires including Elon Musk, David Sacks, a major Trump donor who the president appointed to serve as his AI and crypto czar, and Marc Benioff, the Salesforce chief executive, expressed support for a deployment in the city. Sacks argued a 'targeted operation' could quickly clean up San Francisco while Benioff suggested troops could help with policing duties. Benioff later apologized for his stance after facing backlash, and said he no longer thought troops were necessary."
Comment: Notice who Trump is listening to. It's not the people of San Francisco, and not the city's public officials. It's his billionaire supporters.
Futurism: Numerous Billionaires Preparing for End of Society
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/billionaires-preparing-for-end
The Daily Beast: Trumpy Billionaire Reveals He Told Musk Not to Give His Fortune to Charity
Comment: "Elon Musk could renege on a longstanding pledge to give his fortune away to charity, at the urging of fellow right-wing billionaire Peter Thiel."
"According to transcripts and audio of lectures reviewed by Reuters, tech investor Thiel said he had urged the world’s richest man to rethink his adherence to the Giving Pledge, warning him that some of his wealth would go 'to left-wing nonprofits that will be chosen by Bill Gates'.”
"Musk signed on to the Giving Pledge in 2012, two years after it was co-founded by Gates, the Microsoft billionaire who was then the world’s richest man. It calls on signatories to commit a large portion of their wealth to charitable causes either during their lifetime or through their wills."
"Musk last week became the first person in history to have their public net worth rise above $500 billion, according to Forbes, although it has since dipped back below the half-trillion-dollar mark."
"The SpaceX and Tesla CEO reportedly took the concerns seriously. Thiel said he even looked up actuarial tables to make his point. If Musk died in the coming year, Thiel calculated, he’d effectively be signing over $1.4 billion to Gates, a liberal philanthropist with whom Musk has long sparred."
Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/10/peter-thiel-lectures-antichrist
Comment: "Peter Thiel’s off-the-record antichrist lectures reveal more about him than Armageddon"
Comment: "Thiel, who describes himself as a 'small-o orthodox Christian', believes the harbinger of the end of the world could already be in our midst and that things such as international agencies, environmentalism and guardrails on technology could quicken its rise. It is a remarkable discursion that reveals the preoccupations of one of the most influential people in Silicon Valley and the US."
Comment: Good luck making any sense of the words from this tech billionaire. It's scary that this individual has so much influence in our country.
BBC: Tech billionaires seem to be doom prepping. Should we be worried?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly17834524o
The Hill: Musk’s wealth hits new high
https://thehill.com/newsletters/technology/5535982-musks-wealth-hits-new-high/
Comment: "Tech mogul Elon Musk became the first person to achieve a net worth of $500 billion, briefly touching the half-trillion-dollar milestone before dipping back down."
Comment: One wonders how much of that amount came from taxpayer dollars sent to SpaceX?
Musk calls Anti-Defamation League ‘hate group’ for documenting Christian extremism
Comment: "Elon Musk has accused the Anti-Defamation League, one of the most prominent Jewish organizations in the US, of being a 'hate group' against Christians, suggesting that it encourages murder."
" 'The ADL hates Christians, therefore it is is [sic] a hate group,' Musk responded on Sunday night to an X account that posts anti-immigrant content."
"Musk made the comments on his social media platform X in response to the ADL’s documentation of racist and extremist statements by members of Charlie Kirk’s group, Turning Point USA. The ADL previously defended Musk against accusations of antisemitism after he gave what were widely criticized as two fascist-style salutes on stage following Trump’s inauguration."
CNN: Musk’s X is ‘go-to platform’ for antisemitism, study finds
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/29/business/x-platform-study-antisemitism
Musk, Thiel and Bannon named in Epstein docs released by Dems
https://www.axios.com/2025/09/26/elon-musk-peter-thiel-steve-bannon-epstein-files
Comment: "Elon Musk, Peter Thiel and Steve Bannon are all named in copies of Jeffrey Epstein's daily schedules released Friday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee."
Comment: "The schedules make reference to Musk possibly flying to an 'island' in 2014, and Thiel and Bannon apparently dining with Epstein as recently as 2017 and 2019, respectively."
" 'It should be clear to every American that Jeffrey Epstein was friends with some of the most powerful and wealthiest men in the world,' Oversight Committee Democrats spokesperson Sara Guerrero said in a statement."
" 'Every new document produced provides new information as we work to bring justice for the survivors and victims. Oversight Democrats will not stop until we identify everyone complicit in Epstein's heinous crimes.' "
"The documents do not link any of the men to criminal activity or misconduct."
Trump says the Murdochs will most likely have a role in the U.S. TikTok deal
Comment: "President Donald Trump on Sunday suggested that media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan, who lead News Corp. and Fox Corp., are involved in the deal for U.S. control of TikTok."
" 'Larry Ellison is one of them. He’s involved. This great guy, Michael Dell is involved. I hate to tell you this, but a man named Lachlan is involved. Do you know who Lachlan is? That’s a very unusual name, Lachlan Murdoch,' the president added."
Comment: "Trump also mentioned that Rupert Murdoch could be involved in the deal, saying on Sunday: 'Rupert is, is probably going to be in the group. I think they’re going to be in the group.' "
"Ellison's involvement in the TikTok deal was previously known, as the software and cloud computing company that he co-founded, Oracle, will manage the data and privacy aspects of TikTok, Leavitt said Saturday."
"Trump's revelation Sunday that Dell, the CEO of Dell Technologies, will also be involved with TikTok after its sale was a new detail. Neither the president nor any White House officials have revealed the names of other American business leaders who may be involved with TikTok after the sale takes place."
Comment: "On Sunday, Trump said simply that there would be a 'couple of others, really great people, very prominent people,' involved."
Comment: Yet another example of a group of billionaires controlling media in America.
The Daily Beast: Jared Kushner, Trump’s Son-In-Law, Is Now a Billionaire
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jared-kushner-trumps-son-in-law-is-now-a-billionaire/
How Jared Kushner's Bold Bets In The Middle East Made Him A Billionaire
Comment: Do you think Kushner's new billionaire status is due primarily to his business genius or to his family connections? We note Affinity Partner's major financial backers from Qatar and Abu Dhabi.
yahoo.com: Pope Leo warns that the world is in ‘big trouble’ if Elon Musk becomes the first trillionaire
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/pope-leo-warns-world-big-151657581.html
Comment: "Pope Leo XIV is sounding the alarm over the growing wealth inequality between CEOs and workers—and he’s singling out Elon Musk’s path to trillionaire status. In his first formal interview since being named pontiff, Pope Leo says soaring executive paychecks may be putting the world in “big trouble.” This comes as a recent report warns that many billionaire signers of Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda French Gates’ The Giving Pledge are behind in their philanthropy promises."
Comment: "The 70-year-old pontiff slammed the widening income gap between the working class and the wealthy—specifically calling out the Tesla CEO as an egregious example of executive excess."
" 'CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times more than what the workers are receiving, the last figure I saw, it’s 600 times more than what average workers are receiving,' he told Catholic news site Crux in an interview released Sunday."
" 'Yesterday, the news that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world: What does that mean and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has value anymore, then we’re in big trouble.' ”
Pope Leo criticizes huge CEO salaries in first interview as Catholic leader | CNN Business
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/15/business/pope-leo-catholic-ceo-salaries-intl
AP News: British politicians condemn Elon Musk’s comments at anti-migrant rally
https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-britain-migrants-protest-b1f272511ff0c5bc6a8d7bf308063343
Comment: "Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday condemned “dangerous” comments by Elon Musk after the X and Tesla owner told an anti-immigration rally that violence is coming to Britain and they must fight or die. But the U.K. government resisted opposition calls to sanction Musk for the remarks."
"Starmer denounced violence on the fringes of Saturday’s 100,000 or more-strong 'Unite the Kingdom' demonstration in London organized by far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson."
"Police said 26 officers were injured, four seriously, as a minority among the protesters tried to breach lines separating them from a smaller anti-racist counter-demonstration. There were 25 people arrested at the event and the Metropolitan Police said more arrests would follow."
"Addressing the demonstration by video link, Musk called for the dissolution of Parliament and an early election to remove Starmer’s center-left government. He told protesters 'violence is coming to you' and 'you either fight back or you die.' ”
Comment: After these Musk statements, how do you feel about Musk's prior prominent role in the Trump White House now?
Business Insider: First Elon Musk, now Larry Ellison: The world's richest men are buying huge media companies — because they can
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-larry-ellison-david-paramount-warner-bros-wbd-buy-2025-9
Comment: "One of the world's richest men wants to buy one of the world's most influential media assets. It's unlikely anyone will stand in his way."
"Does this sound familiar?"
"Yup: That's Larry Ellison, financing his son David's plan to buy Warner Bros. Discovery — the company that owns HBO, CNN, and the Warner Bros movie studio — weeks after buying Paramount."
"And yup: That was also Elon Musk in 2022, buying what we used to call Twitter.
Comment: "We don't know what the Ellisons owning Warner Bros. Discovery as well as Paramount would actually mean. But that scenario is theirs if they want it."
Who is Oracle's Larry Ellison, and why did he just overtake Elon Musk to become the richest person in the world?
Comment: "Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison suddenly dethroned Tesla CEO Elon Musk Wednesday as the world’s richest person after stock in Ellison’s database software company surged by more than 40% amid rosy projections for its AI-fueled future."
"According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ellison's net worth, which is tied to Oracle, skyrocketed to $393 billion Wednesday — a one-day, $101 billion leap that vaulted him past Musk ($385 billion)."
Comment: "More recently, Ellison has positioned himself as an ally of President Donald Trump, appearing at the White House in January for the announcement of a project called Stargate, which will build data centers for artificial intelligence. Ellison also funded the bulk of his son David’s $8 billion bid to buy Paramount earlier this year, approved by the Federal Communications Commission under Trump. The president has said he would like Ellison to purchase TikTok too."
"According to the New York Times, Ellison's ambition now 'appears' to be 'nothing less' than bringing 'the country under the benevolent sway of artificial intelligence, which he has said will bring about an era of bounty and harmony' — a vision that includes installing 'cameras everywhere, with every movement analyzed by AI' and 'combining thousands of databases into one enormous electronic repository, which can be mined by AI' to 'cure diseases and fix everything else,' as the Times put it.
Comment: Ellison's vision for this country sure makes me feel safe, secure, and happy! [sarcasm added]
CNN: Who is Larry Ellison, who just became the world’s richest person?
https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/10/investing/larry-ellison-worlds-richest-person
Elon Musk Torpedoed a Beloved Pediatric Cancer Bill. It’s Yet to Recover.
Comment: It's not all Musk's fault. Subsequent inaction from Congress is to be blamed also.
Rupert Murdoch buys out 3 of his children to seal fate of his media empire
https://www.npr.org/2025/09/08/nx-s1-5534435/rupert-murdoch-fox-news-family-succession-lachlan
Comment: "Rupert Murdoch has pulled one final rabbit out of his hat. The 94-year-old media titan has ensured that his vast corporate empire — boasting Fox News, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post among other titles — will retain its quintessential conservative identity after his death."
"Through a series of complex transactions, Murdoch and his son Lachlan — his intended heir — have struck a deal to buy out the shares of Lachlan's three eldest siblings: Prudence, Elisabeth and James. Lachlan is now set to control both his father's companies, Fox Corp. and News Corp., after the elder Murdoch's death. Each is to receive $1.1 billion, according to a person with direct knowledge who spoke on condition of anonymity, as precise details of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed."
"In recent years, James had become an increasingly outspoken critic of the direction of Fox News and other Murdoch news outlets, including the Journal and News Corp.'s Australian papers. He particularly cited coverage of the January 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol, Fox's support for President Trump and the frequent disparagement of climate change on Fox and in the company's Australian papers."
Comment: "Rupert Murdoch decided on Lachlan, who shares his conservative outlook; if anything, the son is considered more ideological than his father. Both men argued that, after the media mogul's death, the company would need stability in the top leadership ranks and consistency in its core conservative principles to retain the loyalty of its audiences."
Comment: So, Fox News and the Murdoch media empire will be controlled by son Lachlan, who is even more ideological conservative than his father Rupert.
PBS: Tesla sales continue plunging in Europe as anger at CEO Musk keeps buyers away
The Guardian: How Elon Musk’s billionaire Doge lieutenant took over the US’s biggest MDMA company
Comment: "Months before Antonio Gracias took a leading role in the dismantling of the federal government by the 'department of government efficiency' (Doge), he was at Burning Man."
Comment: "Once mostly viewed as a party drug, medical researchers and advocates have seen promising results when using MDMA as a therapy aid. Gracias is a believer. He gave Maps $1m in 2020 and poured another $16m into funding psychedelics research at Harvard in 2023. Although his usual billionaire-casual attire would look more at home on Shark Tank than at a rave, he is part of a growing movement among Silicon Valley’s right wing that has become enamored with the potential – both therapeutic and commercial – of consciousness-altering drugs."
Comment: "But the takeover also highlights the ethical questions posed by Doge, even as its prominent leader, Musk, has left the government. Doge staffers like Gracias have received unprecedented access to US agencies, including their processes and staff. There have been few guardrails on their work, or the ways they leverage that access in their non-governmental lives. Just a few months ago, it was hard to imagine that an active government employee at an agency embedded across the government would assume control over a pharmaceutical company seeking FDA approval."
Comment: "Gracias and Musk have also taken illegal drugs together, witnesses told the Wall Street Journal. Multiple news outlets have reported that Musk has himself used MDMA and psilocybin mushrooms, as well as recreationally used ketamine. Musk has stated that he has used prescription ketamine to treat depression, and has vehemently denied reports of drug use impairing his abilities."
"As one of Musk’s most prominent staffers at Doge, Gracias began working at the Social Security Administration (SSA) and led a taskforce that involved accessing immigration data at the Department of Homeland Security. He appeared on stage alongside Musk in March to present misleading claims about immigrants and public benefits, and then in April on the All-In podcast promoted the conspiracy theory that Democrats were attempting to 'import voters', a favorite theory of Musk’s."
"Gracias claimed during his media appearances to be rooting out corruption at the SSA and specifically touted his efforts to uncover proof of immigrants illegally voting en masse. Yet the cases Gracias cited were hardly indicative of widespread malicious voter fraud, experts told NPR, such as a recently immigrated Ukrainian mother and daughter who told investigators they simply didn’t know they couldn’t vote."
"Gracias remained with Doge even after Musk’s very public breakup with Trump, with Politico reporting that he regularly visited the White House to meet with top officials such as the deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller."
Comment: These isolated article excerpts don't tell the whole story, Please read the linked article in its entirety,
Comment: Do you think some of the DOGE insanity could have been the result of psychedelic drugs or associated flashbacks?
Billionaires spark outrage after buying up massive tracts of beloved lands: 'As if they haven't owned and ruined enough stuff'
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/billionaires-spark-outrage-buying-massive-023000557.html
Comment: "Billionaires are buying massive amounts of land in Appalachia to plant forests as carbon offsets, per Echoes of Appalachia."
"While this may sound like good news on the surface (at least they are doing something to try to offset the massive amounts of gas and oil they and their companies use), the truth is that it's not great for the people who live there. True, billionaires release a million times more carbon pollution than average people, and the top 10% of them produce at least 40% of carbon pollution, so it's nice to see them doing something about it."
"However, when people spend a lot on land, it raises property taxes not only for them but also for the surrounding landowners. It also takes the land out of public use. The general price of land goes up, too, often forcing people whose families have been in an area for a long time to move elsewhere, according to the Institute for Policy Studies."
"People are also finding that they can no longer access land that has been available to them for generations. Billionaires put up fences and gates that weren't there before."
Chicago Sun-Times: Union activists rip billionaire ex-DOGE employee at Streeterville rally
Comment: Another reference to Antonio Gracias. See article of Aug. 28th, above.
ProPublica: DOGE Targeted Him on Social Media. Then the Taliban Took His Family.
https://www.propublica.org/article/doge-musk-mohammad-halimi-institute-peace-taliban
Comment: "Afghan scholar Mohammad Halimi, who fled the Taliban in 2021, had worked to help U.S. diplomats understand his homeland. Then DOGE put his family’s lives at risk by exposing his sensitive work for a U.S.-funded nonprofit."
Comment: "The post, which Musk shared with his 222 million followers, was real. It had already been picked up by the local press back home. And it was potentially deadly."
Comment: "It was true that he’d once worked for the Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan in the 1990s, but he had switched sides after the United States invaded following 9/11. He had even served as a cabinet minister in the U.S.-backed Afghan government, where he often shared his knowledge of the Taliban’s internal workings with intelligence officials and military leaders."
Comment: "The Taliban had attempted to assassinate Halimi as a traitor at least three times during the U.S. occupation. And the U.S. government knew he had faced real danger in the past. He narrowly managed to flee Afghanistan in the final days before the U.S.-backed government fell to the Taliban, with the help of the second-highest-ranking CIA officer in the country. Since then, he had tried to live a mostly quiet life, partly to keep the relatives he’d left behind safe from retribution."
"The work he was pursuing with USIP had nothing to do with supporting the Taliban. It was the opposite."
"ProPublica has obtained records making clear that Musk and his team at the newly formed DOGE should have known this too. Halimi’s work at USIP was spelled out in precise detail in the agency’s records, down to the tasks he performed on specific days. His role at the institute was far from top secret, but it had been treated as highly sensitive and confidential. Among other tasks, it involved a program gathering information on the ground about living conditions for Afghan women, who are largely barred from education past primary school or from having a role in public life."
Comment: "Multiple senior government officials at the State Department were warned about the danger that DOGE’s callout posed to Halimi’s family, according to two USIP staffers interviewed by ProPublica. They were trying to stop the damage from spreading. But Musk’s crew was then locked in a pitched battle for control of USIP. The misleading narrative about Halimi became central to DOGE’s argument; American foreign aid was corrupt and even, at times, funding America’s enemies — and that’s why DOGE had to take over."
Comment: "About a week after DOGE outed him, Halimi’s worst fears were realized. Taliban intelligence agents in Kabul descended on the homes of his relatives and detained three of his family members. They were blindfolded, thrown into the backs of 4x4 pickup trucks and driven to a small remote prison. They were held incommunicado over several days and repeatedly beaten and questioned about Halimi and his recently publicized yet ambiguous work for the United States."
Comment: "While Halimi felt powerless to do anything, his relatives in Afghanistan braced themselves for even worse. He tried to put on a brave face, though he knew from his own near-death experiences with the Taliban that the situation was increasingly bleak."
Comment: "He’d been frantically reaching out to his bosses in Washington to ask what was behind Musk’s social media blasts against him and to seek help clearing his name. But everyone Halimi worked with had been fired."
"A 28-year-old college dropout named Nate Cavanaugh had been installed as USIP’s new president. DOGE had ousted its leader, State Department veteran George E. Moose."
"Halimi and his loved ones were on their own. Maybe, they hoped, this would all pass if they stayed quiet and lay low. Then Musk and DOGE took their campaign against USIP and Halimi to another level."
Comment: Please read this entire article to see what happens next. The story is incredible and tragic.
Forbes: Elon Musk’s Self-Driving Tesla Lies Are Finally Catching Up To Him
Comment: "For nearly a decade Elon Musk has claimed that Teslas can truly drive themselves. They can't. Now California regulators, a Miami jury and a new class action suit are calling him on it."
Musk, DOGE Will Face Class Action Claims Over USAID Dismantling
Comment: "US Agency for International Development employees who will lose their jobs when the agency shuts down may pursue their claims against Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency as a class action, a federal court said."
"After the US Supreme Court curbed the use of universal injunctions, advocates for federal workers subject to mass layoffs are turning to the use of class actions."
"The Trump Administration tasked Musk and DOGE with cutting the federal budget. As part of their mandate, they sought to merge USAID with the US State Department and terminate the 5,000 to 10,000 USAID employees. To that end, on March 28, DOGE Team Lead Jeremy Lewin sent an email notifying the employees that they would receive reduction-in-force notices, requiring separation by either July 1 or Sept. 2."
"DOGE’s activities have been legally challenged at almost every turn."
Video: Elon Musk's BIG flip flop| Chris Cillizza - August 20, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiGq0K0TDlc
Musk ordered shutdown of Starlink satellite service as Ukraine retook territory from Russia | Reuters
Comment: "During a pivotal push by Ukraine to retake territory from Russia in late September 2022, Elon Musk gave an order that disrupted the counteroffensive and dented Kyiv’s trust in Starlink, the satellite internet service the billionaire provided early in the war to help Ukraine’s military maintain battlefield connectivity."
Comment: "Upon Musk’s order, Ukrainian troops suddenly faced a communications blackout, according to a Ukrainian military official, an advisor to the armed forces, and two others who experienced Starlink failure near the front lines. Soldiers panicked, drones surveilling Russian forces went dark, and long-range artillery units, reliant on Starlink to aim their fire, struggled to hit targets."
Comment: "Musk’s order was an early glimpse of the power the magnate now wields in geopolitics and global security because of Starlink, a fast-growing satellite internet service that barely existed early this decade and now provides connectivity even in remote areas of the world. Even before his brief role as financial backer and advisor to U.S. President Donald Trump, the success of Starlink – and the unrivaled connectivity it offers across the planet – had given Musk increasing influence with political leaders, governments and militaries worldwide."
CNBC: Trump met with Amazon's Jeff Bezos at the White House last week, sources say
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/22/trump-amazon-bezos-white-house.html
Comment: "Bezos competes with Musk, who is the CEO of SpaceX, through Blue Origin and Project Kuiper, Amazon’s low-Earth orbit satellite internet venture."
"After Trump and Musk’s relationship soured, Bezos spoke with Trump on several occasions, while Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp traveled to the White House, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter."
"The conversations centered in part on government contracts, according to the Journal."
Why Gov. Greg Abbott Won’t Release His Emails With Elon Musk
https://www.propublica.org/article/texas-governor-greg-abbott-elon-musk-emails-foia
Comment: "Taylor also argued that the communications are confidential under an exception to public records laws known as 'common-law privacy' because they consist of 'information that is intimate and embarrassing and not of legitimate concern to the public, including financial decisions that do not relate to transactions between an individual and a governmental body.' "
Comment: "Aleshire said it’s not unusual for government agencies to tap the common-law privacy exception in an attempt to withhold records from the public. But he’s used to it being cited in cases that involve children, medical data or other highly personal information — not for emails between an elected official and a businessman."
The Guardian: Elon Musk claims his America party will change US politics. Experts disagree
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/12/america-party-elon-musk
Comment: "The billionaire says the America party will challenge the system, but third-party bids rarely make it far in the US"
CNN: Musk says he is forming new political party after fallout with Trump
https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/05/politics/elon-musk-political-party
CNBC: Elon Musk says he has formed a new U.S. political party, the 'America Party'
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/05/elon-musk-america-party-democrats-trump.html
Comment: "Musk, the world’s richest man, suggested Friday that the new party could focus 'on just 2 or 3 Senate seats and 8 to 10 House districts.' "
Comment: "Musk did not say where the party may be registered. It did not appear to be registered with the Federal Election Committee."
Comment: Do you think Musk's new political party will primarily care about the people, or will it primarily care about the interests of Elon Musk?
ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos: Trump says he'll 'look' at deporting Musk as feud reignites
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-hell-deporting-musk-feud-reignites/story?id=123372908
Trump-Musk Feud: Trump Says Musk Shouldn’t Play Back-And-Forth ‘Game’ With Him (Live Updates)
Reuters: Trump suggests slashing Tesla subsidies, Musk says 'cut it all'
Comment: "WASHINGTON, July 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to cut off the billions of dollars in subsidies that Elon Musk's companies receive from the federal government, in an escalation of the war of words between the president and the world's richest man, one-time allies who have since fallen out."
"The feud reignited on Monday when Musk, who spent hundreds of millions on Trump's re-election, renewed his criticism of Trump's tax-cut and spending bill, which would eliminate subsidies for electric vehicle purchases that have benefited Tesla, the leading U.S. EV maker. That bill passed the Senate by a narrow margin midday Tuesday."
CNN: Elon Musk just made his starkest political threat since the election
https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/30/media/elon-musk-bill-primary-threat
Comment: " 'Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame! And they will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,' he wrote."
AP News: Elon Musk renews his criticism of Trump’s big bill as Senate Republicans scramble to pass it
https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-trump-tax-bill-senate-27a762b27ace7af044a6130c060f2312
PBS: Venice protesters say Bezos’ star-studded wedding highlights growing inequality
Venice protesters claim victory in Bezos-Sanchez wedding venue change
https://share.google/osjylU6vflm8IaWQz
Tesla seeks to keep Texas robotaxi data under wraps, regulator says
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-wants-us-withhold-answers-161117540.html
Comment: "Tesla told U.S. regulators that its answers to questions on the safety of its robotaxi deployment in Texas are confidential business information and should not be made public, according to a letter released on Monday."
Comment: So, questions of public safety should be withheld from the public?
NBC News: SpaceX rocket being tested in Texas explodes, but no injuries reported
WSFA: Alabama signs onto $7.4B nationwide opioid settlement with Purdue, Sackler family
The Daily Beast: Vance Secretly Flies for Audience With Trump-Baiting Murdoch
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jd-vance-calls-in-on-rupert-murdoch-despite-his-papers-flaying-trump/
Comment: "Trump can typically count on favorable coverage from many of Murdoch’s media properties, particularly Fox News, which has long served as a key amplifier of his messages. But on the occasions they let him down, Trump often lashes out publicly, accusing them of disloyalty or bias."
Billionaire Walmart Heiress Urges People To ‘Mobilize’ At June 14 Anti-Trump Protests
Comment: "The 76-year-old Walton, who is worth an estimated $19.3 billion according to Forbes, paid to take out a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on Sunday calling on readers to “mobilize” on Saturday, June 14."
The Daily Beast: Musk’s DOGE Goons Covertly Transmitted Reams of WH Data
Comment: "Elon Musk’s goons at the Department of Government Efficiency transmitted a large amount of data—all of it undetected—using a Starlink Wi-Fi terminal they installed on top of the White House, according to a new report."
Trump says Musk relationship over, warns of 'serious consequences' if he funds Democrats
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-says-musk-face-very-170018750.html
Axios: "He's a lunatic": Democrats shut down idea of Musk alliance after break with Trump
https://www.axios.com/2025/06/06/elon-musk-democrats-trump-jeffries-pelosi
'Elon is going to get decimated:' How Trump's feud with the world's richest man might end
https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-going-decimated-trumps-feud-090647494.html
The Real Reason for the Trump-Musk Feud is Uglier Than You Think | The New Republic
https://newrepublic.com/article/196246/real-reason-trump-musk-feud-uglier
Comment: "Strip away the ego contest, and what you really see here is a competition about how to screw over poor and working people more effectively."
NPR: From bromance to breakup: How Elon Musk and Donald Trump blew up
https://www.npr.org/2025/06/05/nx-s1-5424686/donald-trump-elon-musk-bromance-breakup
CNN: The ugliest things Trump and Musk just said about one another
https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/05/politics/donald-trump-elon-musk-ugliest-comments-analysis
ABC News: 'KILL the BILL': Elon Musk continues to blast Trump's bill in barrage of social media posts
CNN: Musk blasts Trump’s agenda bill as a ‘disgusting abomination,’ catching White House officials off guard
https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/03/politics/elon-musk-trump-republican-bill
Comment: "Elon Musk on Tuesday lashed out at President Donald Trump’s agenda bill — which the president is pressuring GOP senators to support — calling it a “disgusting abomination.”
Video: 'New and very uncertain territory' as billionaires pay their way into Trump presidency - June 3?, 2025
Musk’s DOGE Goons Trashed Office and Left Drugs Behind
https://www.yahoo.com/news/musk-doge-goons-trashed-office-151549119.html
Comment: "Elon Musk’s DOGE goons left a huge mess at the office of a nonprofit they illegally tried to take over, with staff allegedly finding drugs and evidence of cockroaches in the building."
The Nation: Elon Musk’s Real Drug Problem Is Much Worse Than You Think
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/elon-musk-drug-use-ideology/
Comment: "What happens when you mix ketamine, ecstasy, and mushrooms with far-right ideology? Spoiler: The results aren’t pretty."
Elon Musk’s stint in government has been an abject failure — and wildly destructive
https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/elon-musk-exit-trail-of-failures-rcna209977
House Democrat: It’ll take ‘many years’ to ‘rebuild’ from Musk ‘destruction’
https://share.newsbreak.com/dc8cpdbb
Video: Bombshell new report on Musk’s ‘intense’ use of ketamine, other drugs - May 30, 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJsewjIl8qU
Elon Musk Has Been “Using Drugs Far More Intensely Than Previously Known”: Report
https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-using-drugs-far-132744534.html
Opinion: America has a billionaire problem — we need a wealth tax to fix it
https://share.newsbreak.com/dc7pi8ga
100 years before Elon Musk, one of America's richest men came to fix Washington. It didn't end well.
Comment: An interesting bit of history.
Elon Musk says Trump's spending bill undermines the work DOGE has been doing
CNBC: The ultra-rich are increasingly parking their gold in Singapore as global risks and Trump volatility mount
The Guardian: Expert calls Musk’s ‘Doge’ involvement ‘one of the greatest brand destructions’
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/may/24/elon-musk-doge-scott-galloway
The 10 richest Americans got $365 billion richer in the past year. Now they’re on the verge of a huge tax cut | CNN Business
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/21/business/billionaire-tax-cut-trump
Furious Democrats call for investigation into Musk’s bid to help build Trump’s ‘$500 billion’ Golden Dome project
https://www.yahoo.com/news/furious-democrats-call-investigation-musk-095402218.html
Axios: Tesla, SpaceX reputations crater in new Axios Harris Poll 100
https://www.axios.com/2025/05/20/axios-harris-poll-tesla-spacex-elon-musk
Trump has wiped Elon Musk’s name from Truth Social as GOP insiders admit he’s ‘finished, done, gone’
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-wiped-elon-musk-name-150848889.html
Ex-FBI Agent: Elon Musk's Drug Habit Made Him an Easy Target for Russian Spies
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-fbi-agent-elon-musks-191115756.html
Politico: Why has Elon Musk disappeared from the spotlight?
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/19/elon-musk-disappears-trump-world-00355313
Electrek: Company returns entire Tesla vehicle fleet because of Elon Musk
https://electrek.co/2025/05/15/company-returns-entire-tesla-vehicle-fleet-because-of-elon-musk/
Trump sacked Copyright Office director a day after she refused to rubber-stamp Musk’s plan to train AI models, top Dem says
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-sacked-copyright-office-director-142551502.html
Bill Gates slams Elon Musk over DOGE cuts to USAID
US is pushing Starlink on nations facing tariffs as Musk stands to benefit from trade deals: report
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-pushing-starlink-nations-facing-224025964.html
The Guardian: As Musk steps back, experts say Doge cuts have harmed government services
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/may/05/elon-musk-doge-federal-government
The New Republic: Elon Musk Is an Evil Piece of Garbage—and an A-Level Fraud Too
https://newrepublic.com/article/194769/elon-musk-evil-garbage-fraud
Interview: Musk says DOGE may be here to stay
https://www.axios.com/2025/05/01/elon-musk-doge-interview
For News Articles links from before May 1st, 2025, please go to:
https://sites.google.com/view/dem2oldnews/home/old2-elon-musk-other-billionaires
There you will find a continuation of the news links & comments from the period prior to May 1, 2025 The article history can be viewed as follows:
www.dalecodemocrats.com (latest)
sites.google.com/view/dem2oldnews/home/ (Topic Initialization - April 30, 2025)
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