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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 23rd, 2023

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  • I won’t drive the cybertruck or any of the other newer generation X’s and S’s since they all have yolks instead of steering wheels. A few years back I was rear-ended by a drunk driver on a highway. With about 1/2 second warning I suddenly found myself spinning 360 degrees across 3 lanes, and I was trying my best to steer out of it. I seriously doubt I would have been able to do that with a yoke. My hands likely would have missed as I tried to reposition them.

    The yokes, like so many other “features” seem like nothing more than glitz that Musk demanded to differentiate Teslas from other cars. If an independent authority tests yokes vs. wheels in situations like that crash and finds the yokes are as good or better then I’d consider driving a car with one. But given Musk is now trying to kneecap things like NHTSA I’m most definitely not going to hold my breath.









  • It would take years to build out the necessary infrastructure in the US to do everything Trump is fantasizing about. Here’s my guess as to what will likely happen instead:

    All the major corporations, seeing how unpredictable the US has become, will instead pour piles of money into Democratic coffers thanks to Citizens United. Between that and the damage Trump inflicts over the next two years hopefully the midterm elections will give the Democrats the ability to impeach & convict him, or at least pass veto-proof legislation to rescind his tariff powers.

    At least that would be a more economical way to deal with the issue…



  • I believe the flights to El Salvador were private charters, not military. The earlier flights to Guantanamo would have been military, but even that isn’t clearly & blatantly illegal. Trump claimed legal authority based on an existing legal precedent (I forget which), and since military pilots are not lawyers they followed those orders. The flights stopped in part because of all the legal challenges in court (but also due to costs and other legal issues).

    If anything, when ordered to fly these people to Guantanamo, the military probably turned to their JAG officers, who are lawyers, to ensure they weren’t illegal. They likely would have said the flights should go until the courts ruled on the matter.


  • I recently attended a lecture by retired Admiral James Stavridis, who among other things was the NATO supreme allied commander for 4 years. He explained how every soldier swears an oath to the US Constitution, and in many cases more than just once. Each time an officer is promoted they swear that oath again, so by the time you make something like admiral you’ve likely sworn that oath around ten times, and administered it countless times to others.

    Even when Trump fired those members of the Joint Chiefs, those who replaced them will renew that oath if they receive promotions to fill that role. Stavridis also said that the JAG officers who were recently fired would be replaced through military promotions, triggering even more oaths.

    While the military may indeed humor Trump with a parade, I’m not worried they would blindly obey an illegal order. If Trump ordered them to deploy across the US, to invade Greenland, etc. I think you would see the military leadership act in a way nobody in modern times has ever seen. I’m confident they would honor their oaths and not violate the law.