Elon Musk is pure evil.

[Coventina]

Elon Musk says he withheld Starlink over Crimea to avoid escalation

Elon Musk says he refused to give Kyiv access to his Starlink communications network over Crimea to avoid complicity in a "major act of war".

Kyiv had sent an emergency request to activate Starlink to Sevastopol, home to a major Russian navy port, he said.

His comments came after a book alleged he had switched off Starlink to thwart a drone attack on Russian ships.

A senior Ukrainian official says this enabled Russian attacks and accused him of "committing evil".

Russian naval vessels had since taken part in deadly attacks on civilians, he said.

"By not allowing Ukrainian drones to destroy part of the Russian military (!) fleet via Starlink interference, Elon Musk allowed this fleet to fire Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities," he said.

"Why do some people so desperately want to defend war criminals and their desire to commit murder? And do they now realize that they are committing evil and encouraging evil?" he added.

The row follows the release of a biography of the billionaire by Walter Isaacson which alleges that Mr Musk switched off Ukraine's access to Starlink because he feared that an ambush of Russia's naval fleet in Crimea could provoke a nuclear response from the Kremlin.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66752264

*****************************************

Bull pucky! One oligarch looking out for another.

When are we going to tax these dopes out of existence?

[leftstreet]

1. Not sure it's evil to avoid escalating military conflict

The only question is was he within his rights under the contract the US signed with him.

If he was, the DOD maybe needs to look into the consequences of privatizing everything

[Coventina]

3. I don't believe for one second that was his motivation.

Do you seriously believe that?

[leftstreet]

5. It's quite possible

A person who spends his time on social media ferreting out users he disagrees with, then liking a cat video, then switching over to watch what his satellites are doing...yeah maybe. He's pretty odd

[Coventina]

7. Well, have I ever got a deal for you!

I have this really cool bridge in NYC that I've been meaning to sell, and you seem like just the right person to buy it!

[Disaffected]

21. Question(s) for you.

Are you always this confident over matters that necessarily have uncertainty about them?

Why the cheap shots?

[Coventina]

35. There is no uncertainty about Elon Musk's evil choices.

They are well documented and the list is very, very long.

Anyone believing that he's working in the interests of humanity has to be willfully ignorant at this point.

[Disaffected]

37. You, I and no-one else besides Musk and maybe his associates

could possible know what all went into that decision of his. You are jumping to conclusions based only on assumptions and possibly misinformation. For instance, it has both been reported that:

1) SpaceX turned off (existing) Starlink access over the port area

2) SpaceX refused to turn on Starlink access over the port area

I would suggest there is a difference and, there is much more we don't know.

BTW, I would like to know why Ukraine bought in to Starlink (a system also BTW still in Beta mode) when other alternatives such as GPS or Galileo are available and proven for navigational purposes.

It also seems to me that avoiding provoking a nuclear response falls into the "working in the interests of humanity" category (and no, I have no real idea if that was Musk's actual reason on not).

I believe it is fair to say that Musk is a dick but that does not necessarily translate into everything he does...

[Coventina]

38. Musk has a Messiah complex and always tries to paint himself as somehow

saving humanity.

You know what would convince me he was truly interested in humanity?

Actually spending his fortune on humanity, instead of all his vanity projects that in the end, do little but make him (in)famous.

"You will know them by their fruits."

In Elon's case, his fruits are dead Ukrainians.

[ShazzieB]

34. Yes, he's pretty odd, all right.

But if you really believe he did that "to avoid complicity in a 'major act of war'," then I have to question how closely you've really been paying attention to him.

Musk has consistently demonstrated what kind of person he is for a while now. Sure, he's odd, but that's because he's an egotistical, narcissistic, overly privileged billionaire who has never had to do an honest day's work in his ridiculously privileged life. He does whatever he wants, based on what he thinks will be personally beneficial to him. An altruistic motivation such as avoiding compliciy in an act of war would be completely alien to him, because altruism is not part of his makeup.

[leftstreet]

36. ??

I didn't say I believed it - I said HE did

[ShazzieB]

39. Now I'm confused

I'm not sure what you mean when you say "I didn't say I believed it - I said HE did."

Whatever you may think Musk believed, I believe that Musk would not care about escalating a military conflict, unless he thought there was something in it for him personally.

I also believe that he has shown himself to be pro Putin, or at least a Putin sympathizer, which I assume means he sees some personal benefit in supporting Putin. Based on that, I believe that he sabotaged Ukraine to benefit Putin.

Bottom line: I see Musk as a narcissistic spoiled brat with way too much power that he wields in dangerously capricious ways. Yes, I agree that he is capricious, but I also think he consistently acts in accordance with what he perceives to be to his personal benefit.

I hope I've made myself at least somewhat clear. I'm honestly not sure how much of this we agree or disagree on at this point, but I have no problem with agreeing to disagree.

[Johnny2X2X]

4. He did it to make money and gain more power.

Of that I am certain, that's the only things that drives him, more money and more power.

[Martin68]

26. Musk is developing his markets in Russia and China regardless of moral scruples. Period.

[cilla4progress]

28. Sounds like he enabled Russia

over Ukraine.

[leftstreet]

31. lol the Sec of Defense probably needs to make a statement

It's all he said/he said at this point and pundits/journos are getting clicks because of it


If it's true, as he says on TwitterX, that he wasn't bound by contract to "be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation." then somebody needs to clarify something

[robbedvoter]

30. Ukraine hit those targets later. No escalation. He was doing Putin's bidding

Per Anne Aplebaum https://bird.makeup/users/anneapplebaum/statuses/1701282864011121024

[MutantAndProud]

2. The war had already started. He contributed to the deaths of defenders

[samnsara]

6. ive never trusted that man..not ever..

[robbedvoter]

32. I confess I did. The broken promise to Puerto Rico after Maria - restore electric grid

Was the heads up for me. He also promised to fix Flint’s pipes. Then I read the Afrikaner/emerald mines stuff.

[jaxexpat]

8. A point, if you will. Elon is many things but "pure" is not among them.

[Coventina]

13. point taken

[Botany]

9. Hey Elon is it OK for those Russian Naval Ships to do this to the people of Maripol?

Last edited Mon Sep 11, 2023, 03:07 PM - Edit history (3)

Damage in Maripol from Russian Naval Ships' missiles, shell fire, and drones and you, Elon Musk,
stopped Ukraine from hitting back.

[SpamWyzer]

10. I will say it again

, with the exception of "the philanthropic rich" (Jimmy Buffet, a truly upbeat human, has given away more money than most billionaires, btw) and their organizations, most billionaires are evil. They hoard the solution to the worlds poverty and famine and they waste it sending assholes to space for more money. They ought be a force for good but are such damaged beings inside that they would rather watch us all suffer than offer real help and real "solutions". I don't want to got to Mars. No one I know wants to. But billionaire Ego Muck thinks human destiny lays in the stars. He is nothing but a kitsch Cecil Rhodes, a minor chord in the symphony of truly decent human beings who tries to fool himself about how great he is by fooling us into thinking he is competent. I hate billionaires and would end their miserable lives if it was legal to hunt such animals.

[prodigitalson]

15. kitsch Cecil Rhodes is on the money but he isn't a minor chord but rather a discordant note

in the human symphony of decency

[dlk]

11. This is the downside of privatization

Until there’s an alternative, we are beholden to Musk’s whims.

[slightlv]

22. Just like back in the 80's

whenever anyone mentioned something was being "deregulated," most people understood immediately what that meant - to them, the the earth, to the world in general.

For the last 20-30 years, the word has been "privatization"... and most of us can sit here and tick off what it means to the the world, to the common people, and to the world in general... as well as to the earth.

There should be no such entity as a "billionaire"... not when so many people (or anyone, actually) is fighting for food, shelter, and clothing to sustain themselves and their kids. Not when the earth needs so much healing. And certainly not when there is so much war and famine going on around the world.

If we could get rid of these billionaires, we just might have fewer wars. Even most religious wars were initially stirred up by billionaires seeing the $$$ in a new war effort.... or in whatever resources that country had within its borders (as long as they, and not the country, laid claim to them).

[dlk]

40. Privatization, in many ways, led to the downfall of Rome

The decades-long, massive redistribution of wealth up to the very top, and it’s repercussions, is the crime and obscenity of our time.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

12. He also wants $100 million from the US government

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/elon-musk-just-requested-100-million-from-the-us-government-for-an-ambitious-new-project-here-s-his-plan/ar-AA1gvzvU

[prodigitalson]

14. That is the kind of shit that gets people murdered

Not saying it is right. But that is definitely the kind of shit people murdered.

[Prairie_Seagull]

17. Doesn't seem much different than having his own standing army/air force.

If the drones were still on the ground prior to being used and blown to bits by an attacking air force or army Isn't the outcome (outside of collateral damage) the same. We have all probably played the game of Risk. Have we now, figuratively of course, allowed billionaires to buy in? This is no game.

[leftstreet]

23. It already happens

Nothing but contracts prevents the private owners from doing their own thing

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the American military relied to an unprecedented degree on private contractors for support in virtually all areas of war operations. Contractors supplied trucks, planes, fuel, helicopters, ships, drones, weapons and munitions as well as support services from catering and construction to IT and logistics. The number of contractors on the ground outnumbered US troops most years of the conflicts. By the summer of 2020, the US had 22,562 contractor personnel in Afghanistan – roughly twice the number of American troops.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/11/us-afghanistan-iraq-defense-spending

[2naSalit]

18. In making that decision...

I think he became a war criminal. That could put a damper on his jet setting ways.

Perhaps this could be the catalyst to nationalizing X corp. and Starlink. We paid for a whole bunch of it anyway.

[Pachamama]

33. +100000

Completely agree

[Nululu]

24. Traitor Musk needs to have gov subsidies stopped.

After Ukraine had submarine drones on the way to destroy Russian ships firing calibre missiles, Musk ordered Starlink to disconnect its network there. The drones washed harmlessly ashore.

He admitted this. This collaborator is responsible for dozens of deaths by his action. Musk lobbied for this contract. I doubt he had an exclusion built in.

He stopped a Ukrainian strike that might've saved lives. Then denied it before admitting it "to stop escalation". Evil Musk enabled Russian killing of civilians.

[Joinfortmill]

25. We need to throw these bums out. Fuck his money

[blue-wave]

27. If I'm not mistaken,

isn't Tesla what they call a "Unicorn" company? That is, a company that has never made a profit without govenment subsidies and large investors continually throwing gobs of money at the company. A fantasy company in a fairy tale story like Unicorns. Our government needs to stop subsidizing this Russian asset with our tax dollars.

[TSExile]

29. He and T****...

...are easily the two public figures who trigger me the most. Both are vain, stupid and hateful...but you can never underestimate them. They are both evil and cruel. Are the Democrats even investigating Musk? That stuff that's come out about him and Russia is too dangerous to ignore.