Notices by Isaac Ji Kuo (isaackuo@spacey.space)

@nazgul Based on the replies, I'm afraid people don't realize the deadly seriousness.

Elon Musk has directed DOGE to replace the 60 million lines of COBOL code running Social Security within a few months.

This can't be done. Not with AI, not with thousands of human programmers. It's really a plan to cut/eliminate Social Security.

I should hope it goes without saying that people will die as a result.

That's the COBOL code we're talking here. Social Security.

https://www.wired.com/story/doge-rebuild-social-security-administration-cobol-benefits/

@jacklaridian @stux It also has a brake pedal. And a steering wheel. And a window in front so you can see where you're going.

You should be more greatful to His Holy Geniusnes Elon Musk for all this innovation!

@dyckron It could make more sense to at least pretend to be studying a home grown MLRS system rather than HIMARS. The Canadian defense industry is capable of producing cutting edge military rockets - the CRV-7 greatly outperformed US 2.75" rockets, and CRV-7PG includes precision guidance.

Obviously it takes time and money to develop a new rocket/missile system. But there may also be a lot of potential buyers looking for alternatives more stable than ... you know ...

@Snowshadow Uhh ... there were protests in the streets. I'm not saying it was enough - obviously it wasn't enough. But it's plain inaccurate to say, "You all sat and watched it unfold on your tvs."

I'm not going to say that "not all Americans" is an excuse. Collectively, we didn't do enough.

But I'm not going to just go along with blanket generalizations that are plainly anti-factual.

@Snowshadow I'm not asking for a free pass. I only object to factual inaccuracy, which helps no one.

@Snowshadow FWIW, I (a USAian), do take it seriously, and I don't get angry when Canadians push back at "just joking" or "invasion of Canada will never happen".

I'm old enough to remember when everyone with a brain knew that the invasion of Iraq was about oil. Canada also has oil.

@inthehands I don't engage with them either. I don't have time for that. But I recognize that this does nothing to solve the problem.

I've always been like that. I'll just keep my mouth shut and concentrate on the "real" enemy. And it never did any good. They just got more and more anti-Democratic.

They would still "hold their nose" and vote Democratic in the general, so I kept spreading the word to them. Otherwise, I'd have zero followers and followees by now. But it sure feels lonely.

@inthehands Obviously I was too tired to engage with them in ways that would manipulate their opinions and core world view.

But you know who wasn't? Tankies. Putin trolls. Fake leftie accounts. Billionaire owned mass media. Twitter, Facebook, etc.

There's a lot of money to be made manipulating people into hating the Democratic Party. And not a lot of money to be made the other way.

@inthehands Sadly, regretful MAGA are more likely to be helpful in fighting this coup than those on the "left" who continue to concentrate their efforts on blaming the Democrats and who are calling for them all to be primaried.

Obviously we have to prioritize who we pick fights with, but they are the ones who won't let go of attacking the Democrats.

@inthehands I wish I could see some evidence of what you say. I see evidence that numbers of Trump voters openly regret that they helped elect him.

I haven't yet seen any of the "left" regret attacking Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. I only see them doubling down and continuing to attack the Democratic Party.

Do they have good intentions? Maybe, in their own twisted way of thinking. But the point is that their way of thinking was purposefully twisted in a way to hurt Democrats.

@inthehands The whole point of "Everything is really the Democrats' fault!!" reply-guying is to help the fascists and hurt the Democrats. That's the whole point. To help Trump and Musk and Putin and to hurt the Democratic Party.

These people have no real interest in "saving" the world, they just want to blame the Democrats, end of story.

When you've been conditioned to make this your core identity (by Putin/Republicans/etc), it is really difficult to free yourself from the conditioning.

@ATLeagle @GottaLaff You're assuming that the owners of the NYT care about the continued existence of the NYT. I think that for them, destroying the NYT along the way is a bonus.

@cstross @nyrath I had also thought about some sort of sun shade, but then I realized that an astronaut is already wearing one (assuming the sides of the helmet can provide the desired shade).

Still, a simple parasol could also be useful. My feeling is that an external parasol would be better than an internal one. With a typical astronaut suit, you can't really reach around on the inside. As such, when something on the inside goes wrong, it tends to become a big problem.

@nyrath You would think that this could be a solved problem, since it's not entirely dissimilar to the problem that car drivers face regularly because we make roads that point directly into the Sun.

To me, there is an obvious practical solution because of a lack of roads that force you to drive straight into the Sun.

You simply walk facing sideways to the Sun. You can shade your eyes from the Sun with the side of your helmet, and light reflected off your suit will provide adequate lighting.

@pzmyers Well, once upon a time, gas prices shooting up got lots of USAians to go for smaller more economical cars. But with the transition to battery electric, I'm guessing that won't happen again.

Maybe something like the "tiny house" thing can be adapted to "tiny cars"? I mean, it wouldn't be the big changes we need, but it might help a little?

If we could make "tiny cars" trendy among snooty folks or something ...

@cstross @iinavpov If that's a hopeful thought for you and others, hold onto it.

I'm less optimistic. I mean, I don't think Trump cares about the size of the government, nor does Musk care about Tesla Motors. They both have the same shared vision - recreating good old South Africa white supremacy.

Firing all the non-white supremacist employees of the EPA is fine. Hiring triple the number of employees is fine so long as it's stuffing the government with white supremacy.

1/2

@Methylzero @cstross @iinavpov I think what you state is accurate. It shows to me how he's not a serious businessperson, and treats SpaceX as a plaything regardless of what makes business sense.

Arguably Musk bought Twitter in order to influence political power, and this was successful. So maybe that one's not just a plaything ... except why rename it "X"? That's a very unseriousness decision.

And as for Tesla ... I mean. Come on. Cybertruck? How much less serious could he get?

@jzillw @cstross Oh yeah, I forgot about that! Is that still a thing? People buying/selling MMO items with "IRL" money?

@cstross I mean ... video game bots have been a thing for ... a long time. Just missing a monetization angle so far.

@tarheel @mekkaokereke I'm really sick of people accusing Democrats of brinksmanship when it's the Republican Party's fault that the other candidates are so dire.

We have a democratic primary process. Push for more progressive candidates during that process, or maybe cross over to try and make the Republican candidates less awful. If you don't have the votes, it's fine to voice disappointment.

But don't aim grievances at the Democratic Party when it's the Republican Party actually responsible.