S10.E21: Elon Musk

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Main topic: Elon Musk

Also:  Rudy Giuliani charged $148 million for defamation of Georgia election workers; people on TV do not understand this holiday dessert; season recap; topics that weren't covered

Original air date 2023.12.17

Season finale 😿

[Annber03]

"The less fuckable version of Billy Zane's character in Titanic." Best. Description. Ever XD. 

I am all for space exploration, and if Space X did some stuff that would actually be beneficial to the environment in the process with their work, great. But I guess my question would've been to Musk and co. is that we've got a lot of problems here on Earth that need to be tackled, so, uh, maybe those billions of dollars of his could've been put to better use tackling those problems rather than making cool fancy new stuff to send into space? 

I hadn't really paid much attention to Elon until all the controversies started earing their heads with him, but the fact that so many dudebro sorts are into him (John nailed it with the description of a guy wearing a fedora and a "Release the Snyder cut" shirt as the typical Elon fanboy), along with his obnoxious behavior and cozying up to and giving platforms to right-wing extremists, certainly has cemented my opinion of him over time. And the fact that our government has been so eager to let people like him have more control over stuff that should be their job is very disturbing, too, for a whole host of reasons.

Just...here's a thought, people, maybe stop holding billionaires in such high esteem and believing them to be smart simply because they have a crapton of money? I just keep thinking about all the problems his level of money could solve and wipe out and the fact that he's choosing to blow it on screwing around with social media sites and making fancy yet stupid and pointless tech stuff, like that robot whatever thing he was trying to show off is...frustrating. So many people who could put that money to so much better use, personally or on a general level, and instead dipshits like him have control of it. And the media fawns over people like him instead of holding him to account. It's maddening. 

Even with the shortened season due to the strike, still a lot of good segments and clips from the show this year :D. I genuinely would like to see some of those proposed things he'd talked about wanting the show to cover, notably the bee thieves and the headlights, but hey, if they don't become actual episode segment, maybe he can do some fun little one-off bit with them whenever the show's in an off week or something :p. May he and his staff have a good, relaxing holiday, and look forward to their return in February!

[ahisma]

I couldn’t figure out why he jumped straight from Rudy to starting his story of the night. But it all made sense when he started the season wrapup. 

Love the graphic of the giant puteketeke puppet flying in the main cabin! 

42 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

I genuinely would like to see some of those proposed things he'd talked about wanting the show to cover, notably the bee thieves and the headlights, but hey, if they don't become actual episode segment, maybe he can do some fun little one-off bit with them whenever the show's in an off week or something :p.

Same! Those are the exact same two I wanted. (I HATE those searing, blinding headlights! They are a menace on the road.) 

[Lantern7]

Good way to end the season. Musk is . . . well . . . "a lot." I think there was potential for growth, but he went down the wrong paths. It's a shame that he appeals to basically the wrong kind of people these days. And the thing about advertisers that bail on Twitter killing Twitter for pulling out . . . that doesn't make sense. I'd say that we should be grateful he's not another billionaire that would run for the presidency, but I acknowledge there are other, more critical ways he can fuck things up.

This was a good season, though the hiatus took out a lot of momentum the show had. I don't know how serious John was about running topics like designer dogs and brighter headlights, but I'm thinking they would still be relevant when the show comes back. John signed a three-year deal. Here's hoping he lives long enough to finish it, since the first ten year did a number on him.

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

IJust...here's a thought, people, maybe stop holding billionaires in such high esteem and believing them to be smart simply because they have a crapton of money? I just keep thinking about all the problems his level of money could solve and wipe out and the fact that he's choosing to blow it on screwing around with social media sites and making fancy yet stupid and pointless tech stuff, like that robot whatever thing he was trying to show off is...frustrating. So many people who could put that money to so much better use, personally or on a general level, and instead dipshits like him have control of it. And the media fawns over people like him instead of holding him to account. It's maddening.

Better question: can you be a billionaire and not be an asshole? Apparently, that is nigh-impossible. Bruce Wayne being genuinely concerned about the welfare of others in a corporate sense might be the most unrealistic thing about the Batman myth, and that includes him dressing up in tactical armor and apprehending criminals through wanton violence.

[Spartan Girl]

 

7 hours ago, Annber03 said:

The less fuckable version of Billy Zane's character in Titanic." Best. Description. Ever XD. 

Oh I don’t know, the Weekend at Bernie’s dig at Giuliani was pretty good too 😉

But how dare John compare that one outfit to Recue Ranger Chip!? Chip was WAY cooler than Musk could ever be! Not to mention more competent at his job😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

[JustHereForFood]

Musk is definitely one of the most dangerous people in the world right now.

The bare minimum we could all do is stop using his shitty platform. BTW, John said that most people still call it Twitter. What I've seen, people now call it Xitter, pronounced the way people in China or Vietnam would pronounce it ("x" read as "sh"). I've never had an account there, but I used to check some people's profiles for news about some of my favorite shows. It seems like many people have been leaving it recently, citing the increasing toxicity which doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Apart from the already mentioned reinstatement of several assholes, Musk also decreased the opportunities to report offensive content.*

*What is especially dickish, he disabled the function to report transphobic hate-speech. One of his kids is trans and she now reportedly doesn't want to have anything to do with him (big shocker, right?). Father of the year, everyone.

Also, for the love of everything, can people please stop taking their news from Xitter? The misinformation seems to be over-the-top even for social media standards and I'm really worried how much worse it's gonna get before next year's US elections. Musk has already got into trouble with the EU for it, as we have slightly more strict laws against misinformation (though it's still far too little, IMO). There's actually been an update today, so the timing of John's piece is good: X to be investigated for allegedly breaking EU laws on hate speech and fake news

As far as I'm concerned, the end of Xitter can't come soon enough. I hope those advertisers stick to their decisions.

As someone who follows the war in Ukraine pretty closely, the drama about the satellites was painful to watch unfold (not to mention hard to keep the track of, what with his weird pseudo-intellectual statements). It's great that he provided the Starlink access at the time when it was really needed, but his later blackmail over it and his attempts at a "peace plan" leave a bad taste, especially considering how grateful the Ukrainians were and how much goodwill Musk acquired initially. It's as if he wants peace, but he wants to be the one praised for it, otherwise he just doesn't care, just like John said about the saving the world stuff. Hello, narcissistic personality disorder. If only there was a way that someone would come to him on a daily basis and shouted "Newsflash, asshole, not everything is about you!"

 

8 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Better question: can you be a billionaire and not be an asshole? 

Hard to say. I try not to judge people for their money or status, especially if they earned their money. It does seem like there might be a higher concentration of assholes there, but it's hard to say if it's not just because we tend to hear more about them than about some nobodies who spend half their day making other people's lives miserable. I would say it's more about the influence they have than the amount of money - I just checked the list of the wealthiest people to see if I can find someone decent and I don't know most of those people, only the ones who try hard to be in the spotlight. I guess Bill and Melinda Gates are more or less liked? Plus, Oprah and Rihanna are billionaires, though they were relatively down on the list.

I will definitely agree that too much power in the hands of one person is dangerous and if they are surrounded by people who constantly praise them and don't allow any criticism, that is the road to hell. (We can also see that with various dictators or wannabe-dictators all over the world.)

[peeayebee]

1 hour ago, JustHereForFood said:

What I've seen, people now call it Xitter, pronounced the way people in China or Vietnam would pronounce it ("x" read as "sh").

Ah, I didn't realize that's how you'd pronounce it. 

I used to have an account there. I tweeted only a couple of times, but I followed several people from different areas -- comedy, actors, news, politics, etc. -- to get a heads-up on what's going on in important news and pop culture, as well as jokes and funny and cute videos.

And Musk ruined all that. I had been using a 2nd party app called Tweetbot. It allowed you to use Twitter without getting ads or unwanted tweets from people you don't follow. It also allowed you to come back to where you left off. And then Musk decided not to allow 2nd party apps. And then all the rest happened.

So now I'm on Mastodon. It's fine, but of course there aren't all the people on there that were (and still are) on Twitter. 

Quote

As far as I'm concerned, the end of Xitter can't come soon enough. I hope those advertisers stick to their decisions.

Amen on both comments. Twitter's demise would be great. I really don't understand why any company would want to advertise there. Go to Facebook, though I'm sure they already are, and YouTube or wherever. Is advertising on Twitter worth it?

Back to the show... I loved the start of the segment where he showed all the different variations of villain that Musk is. I also got a big chuckle out of the Chip from Rescue Ranger jacket joke.

The Iron Man suit video was outstanding. Was the Iron Man supposed to remain standing after being hit by the giant tree trunk?

The proposed stories that the show couldn't do sound interesting. The headlight one caught my eye (so to speak) as did the pet insurance one. 

I'm sorry to see the season end, but obviously everyone on the show needs to recharge and relax.

[Wilbur Whateley]

1 hour ago, JustHereForFood said:

 

12 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I am all for space exploration, and if Space X did some stuff that would actually be beneficial to the environment in the process with their work, great. But I guess my question would've been to Musk and co. is that we've got a lot of problems here on Earth that need to be tackled, so, uh, maybe those billions of dollars of his could've been put to better use tackling those problems rather than making cool fancy new stuff to send into space? 

 

 

I hate to defend Elon in any way, shape, or form, but that one would actually be a softball for him to knock out of the park - Tesla is not only an EV company but also a battery and solar energy venture. So he could just tell you he is working seriously on Earth problems too, it's not an either/or situation, next question. 

 

Edited December 18, 2023 by Wilbur Whateley

[vibeology]

On 12/18/2023 at 12:57 AM, Lantern7 said:

Better question: can you be a billionaire and not be an asshole? Apparently, that is nigh-impossible. Bruce Wayne being genuinely concerned about the welfare of others in a corporate sense might be the most unrealistic thing about the Batman myth, and that includes him dressing up in tactical armor and apprehending criminals through wanton violence.

MacKenzie Scott? She donated $2.1b in 2023 and $16.5b total since her divorce from Bezos. She wants to stop being a billionaire. That's her actual goal and I think maybe that's the only way to do it. 

[peeayebee]

And.... Musk tweeted this:

Quote

Oliver was great several years ago, but stopped being funny when he sold his soul to wokeness where humor is basically illegal.

Here's a link to Reddit.

[andromeda331]

Sorry John your wrong about one thing. Rescue Rangers Chip is cool and Elon will never be as cool as Chip. 

I used to be a fan of Elon Musk's it changed when safety problems began coming out. John's right because he's a billionaire he gets a pass on everything. Because that has never gone wrong before. It didn't go well with millionaires either. No one person should have that much power our government was set up to keep that from happening. 

It's great all the stuff he's done with SpaceX but not the government or people would have let NASA get away with any of that. They've have only three disasters and one averted one. The government was all up their asses each time as they should. It was their mess ups that lead to the Apollo 1 fire and Challenger explosion. I can't remember if Columbia was their fault but Apollo 13 kind of was too.  

They also learned from each disaster. Elon hasn't learn from anything because as John said no one is going to hold him accountable. He doesn't care because he doesn't have too. Had he been held accountable in the past probably he would. He doesn't care about how many rockets were destroyed or how many people killed in his Teslas or that he lied about it being self-drivable. 

He's gone off the rocks the last few years into crazy insufferable ass territory. The whole mess with twitter. It's all his fault. He really thinks everything he does is just so good and clever. Really pulled ads are going to be what takes down Twitter or whatever it's called? No, moron, it's your fault.

[swanpride]

Not sure how I feel about the segments..it was kind of surface? I mean, there is so much to say about this guy which goes way beyond bothering top employees whenever he feels like it. This is also the guy who kept the company open during a pandemic mainly so that he could get his bonus, who is currently in a fight with the unions of Sweden (supported by the unions of Denmark), and whose ability at inventions are mostly questionable in the first place. 

Musk is above all a world class pretender who has managed to put the stocks of a number of companies through the roof by selling dreams. And now that more and more people have caught onto his nonsense, his star is predictably sinking. The only shocking thing imho is that it isn't sinking faster. 

 

Plus, I don't appreciate the idea that you have to be a Maverik to push forward inventions. People invent stuff all the time without recklessly endangering everyone else. Well, if you consider streamlining what is already there inventing in the first place...