Base32

The Washington Post conducted the investigation. During the Q4 24 Tesla earnings call (transcript widely available through sites such as Motley Fool), in response to a question, Musk said he wanted to take responsibility away from the states regarding the regulation of autonomous vehicles, and impose standards from central government through something that he was calling back then "a partner of government efficiency". He intimated that he believed state governments should have no say what goes on their roads. Later, in December 24: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Tesla-may-stop-reporting-fatal-FSD-accidents-as-Musk-s-DOGE-team-preps-to-drop-fed-safety-rules.932267.0.html If I was a taxi driver, I'd be looking for another line of work, but you won't be needed soon. This is apparently what Americans want, sitting in the back of a driverless electric cab hurtling along at 80mph. This fits in with Musk's ultimate vision of eliminating all private car ownership.

Obviously the Tesla Robotaxi, which is critical for the future of the company and its revenue stream, needs less regulatory oversight. Cybertaxi is critical to Musk, not because he merely wants to monopolise the US cab market (which he will), but because the passengers become a captive source of data, which is much more valuable. The most valuable data of course being biological; the biological signature you leave behind just being sat in the back of the taxi. It will all belong to Musk to train his AI (because that will be part of the T&Cs on the App that you have to use if you have any hope of getting a cab from the airport, from the bar, to the hospital). Breath analysis and non-invasive genomic analysis is coming. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36290855/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-024-05943-x

https://thesignsoflife.com.au/cult-behaviour/ With the DOGE cuts, one has to wonder what's happening about recruitment of Customs Officers, given that the US is instigating an extremely complex range of tariffs.

I recall on ARRSE, a forum for mainily ex-British servicemen, there was an account where the poster had come up with a biography that he was ex-British soldier, settled in Australia but traveling around in Asia, and of independant means. Part of that biography included a resentment at British foreign policy at the time in the Middle East. So he was pretty consistant with his posts, using army lingo as needed, and displaying some knowledge of the services. But there were a few lapses, and sometimes he had apparently forgotten his back story, or his English would get quite poor. The account was outed when someone pointed out the times he was posting at fitted with Moscow time, not Bangkok/Bali/Sydney time. Then he admitted, he was a Russian, and this was his job. There were shifts that operated the account, with handover notes. He was still quite genuinely anti British/West, which was fine, and the debate became more honest. So take all of our claims about ourselves with a strong pinch of salt I suppose is the message.

delete

https://www.jacobsilverman.com/p/prominent-doge-staffer-is-grandson His Grandfather was tricked into returning to the USSR, was arrested and executed. His Grandmother blames the US for outing him and not helping him. This is why Developed Vetting, or whatever the Americans call the same process, exists. DV can go really deep, probing the beliefs of your grandparents and neighbours. Its designed to weed out the Sleepers and keep society safe

Former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Richard Shirreff comments.

Brits (and Danes) in Sheds. Repurposing Soviet Air to Air missiles into an air defence system the Gravehawk. The name refers to a D&D character, a half-Elf bandit leader.

No, he's not unutual. He thinks like a lot of people, including "normal" people, and that's the problem. The cream hasn't risen to the top. He's a populist, which got him elected. He's not a Statesman. He's a normal stupid person, and they are not unusual or extraordinary. How far Russia is depends on the map,

dup'd

Mr Trumpf hasn't been told that the Congo is full of "rare" earth minerals. Switzerland didn't exactly stay out of WW2. They did well by essentially keeping the Nazis in power. https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1144&context=historical-perspectives

Higher GDP perhaps, but higher quality of oife? You make assumptions about how wealth is distributed in Russia, and how you measure "quality of life". The GDP per head in Macau is $140,000. When are you upping sticks and moving to China, because apparently you will have a better quality of life there Wealth in Russia is not well distributed https://www.intellinews.com/two-thirds-of-russians-earn-under-415-a-month-income-inequality-rising-survey-says-348305/ At the moment, Moscow is colonising the occupied areas with Russians, offering cheap loans only to people from outside the Donbass.

America was never under existential threat. That is a fantasy. The UK never had an election for 10 years due to WW2. Churchill was no dictator. An election was held once the UK knew that Adolf One-<deleted> Hitler had blown his brains out. If Putin would honour us with the same, I'm sure would be delighted to hold elections. Of course US leaders before have wanted elections canceled or suspended. Yes, who would support someone getting killed just for going out to vote.

Rubio

Clear insight.

dup'd

https://1-re--russia-net.translate.goog/analytics/0244/?_x_tr_enc=1&_x_tr_sl=ru&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Why its difficult to hold a Ukrainian Presidential election in areas occupied by Russia: https://cepa.org/article/behind-the-lines-ethnic-cleansing-by-home-loan/

https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2025/01/30/7496040/

Putin's new limo https://zamin.uz/en/world/144685-new-version-of-putins-aurus-car-photo.html It does look like one of those electric London cabs.

https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/GAZPROMNEFT-RESULTS-de4bf68f-b5c4-4eb2-8c32-a31f98edd1a2 So increased costs. Refinery repair costs starting to hit? Or revenue up because the ruble is weak.

MEMRI take on Russian economy https://www.memri.org/reports/how-russian-economy-has-reacted-peace-talks

A Russian's round up events inside Russia. This guy used to be a Putin supporter, at one point celebrating a beach holiday in occupied Crimea.

Military historian Dan Snow has some thoughts