It’s odd to see Americans siding with Russia, to be honest.
As soon as they start making material progress, Elon yanks the rug on them.
You really gotta wonder who is running this shit show.
why is it odd? Putin is Trump’s handler.
It’s worse than odd. It’s angering.
Recent reporting indicated Musk unilaterally made the decision to limit Starlink in Ukraine
Starlink should be nationalized. It’s too much power for a private citizen who has shown a propensity for abuse
Starlink can easily be disrupted by a simple missile attack triggering a Kessler syndrome reaction. LEO satellites were a stupid idea.
I think we’ve shown through repeatable testing that capitalists don’t think past longer terms than the next shareholder report.
If so simple why not happened?
Because humanity loses access to LEO for at least a generation if that happens.
I know what Kessler syndrome is. Im saying that it’s not that easy to get started especially for Russia. The us demonstrated it’s capability in this respect with the DART “mission” which in my opinion was more of a military use case and something that absolutely shouldn’t be funded by NASA. One would think that if it where that easy for Russia to get any advantage in this war they would have done it by now no matter the reprocussions.
Deflecting a large, irregular, rotating mass in deep space is a pretty different mission from launching a missile at LEO targets or launching an explosive vehicle from a satellite currently in orbit. The people I know that worked DART are now working other civil space missions like Dragonfly, the mission to Titan.
I guess they both involve orbital dynamics to calculate the rendezvous, but they’re very different orbital regimes.
Anyway, I disagree that it was military adjacent or more appropriate to be done via military funding. It doesn’t have direct military application in the near future. Even proposals I’ve seen for stuff like GPS on the moon is being funded on the civilian side.
IRIS 2 should have launched over 10 years ago. I’m certain there are people, in the various EU member intelligence agencies, that knew of Leo Hitler’s intentions and strategy. His connections with Vlad should have set off the damn alarm bells.
America (the government) is siding with Russia. Americans are not.
It’s all the same to us. Why are you not in the streets. America’s reputation will be tarnished for a generation. Why would anyone trust you when your just 4 years away from this shitshow
We will see at the midterms.
I mean, I plan to vote exclusively for Democrats, but I don’t think it will change much. Even if Democrats sweep, and are acting in good faith, I agree with that recent NYTimes OpEd that the Legislative Branch has been effectively kneecapped by the Executive ignoring the law, subsuming power, and being protected by the Supreme Court. And then there is actually a possibility that 2028 voters will hold the Democratic Congress responsible for the shitshow that will continue.
The system is beyond fixing.
2028 voters will hold the Democratic Congress responsible for the shitshow
Low info voters always blame the president for everything. That’s how we got Trump’s second term.
Then they need to stop their government.
Until then, it’s Americans, because they collectively are responsible for their government.
Now, I guess I’ll take excuses again.
That changes nothing
Trump still has an approval rating of 30%. And those mfs are in favor of everything Trump does, including siding with Russia.
30% does not make a country.
Well apparently they fucking do and that’s the problem from the start. There’s no use in denying it afterwards.
The minority 30% who are also idiots does indeed make the entire country. They chose the president, the house, the courts and allow every single law to be broken without consequences while randomly killing random people. That is USA as it is made by the 30% right fucking now.
In what way exactly do you mean that they do not make the country? What high road are you on where you can pretend that there is anything more to it than what it is right now?
30% don’t give a fuck and/or are easily manipulated into not voting so it doesn’t really matter. The world has long given up hope on America righting the ship until you all prove otherwise. It’s been a decade of y’all pushing the line back. Can’t imagine you are one country in 50 years.
If the best the other 70% can do is throw dildos at nazis, then yes it does.
It does make a big chunk of a country. A few rotten apples spoils the whole bunch, as the saying goes.
When the vote turnout gets no better than 65%, it’s pretty fuckin close
If more than 30 % do not care at all, less than 30 % are actually opposed and 30 % are like this… well guess what that means.
Musk made the call to limit their connection.
Who the fuck voted for him?
He’s the CEO of the company that owns the sats. Unfortunately he can do that if he wants. I’m glad it happened. Yet more fuel for the fire to get away from American tech. We will never recover our world leadership, America’s done.
It’s wild to think that the frontrunner in miltech and modern tactics is going to be Ukraine in future wars. The big powers will be begging to collab on their huge practical knowledge.
not me.
– An American
Trump and his Republicans did.
Nobody cares if you as an individual didnt vote for this. The bottom line is your country is rotten and from the outside it seems as if nobody is doing anything to stop the rot.
Maybe it isnt true, but this is what the world sees. A country rotting from the inside out and a people too meek to stop it from happening.
if that’s the case then literally every single person on this planet is a huge piece of shit.
show me a government and I will show you corruption manifest.
I didnt say the individual was bad. Not once. I said we still have to hold the country accountable. We dont have the luxury of evaluating every American individually.
Im sure many people in Nazi Germany also didnt want what was happening. But that changes nothing about the country at the time.
holy logical fallacy batman.
you’re either trolling me or unable to follow a logical line of reasoning that doesn’t contradict itself.
Oh? Which fallacy is that? I see you are fond of using the ad hominem one.
Nobody.
If I’ve learned anything, it’s how incredibly adaptable Ukrainians are.
“To a surrounded enemy you must leave a way of escape. Show him there is a road to safety, and so create in his mind the idea that there is an alternative to death.”
The whole russian propaganda aparat is against this… fear works for their people, and it’s probably the only tactic they know.
“When you are weak, appear strong. When you are strong, appear weak.”
That’s one Russia seems to know. Or act upon simply out of ego.
Pretty sure they hand had plans for this and greater treason from their “ally” for a long time.
Musk isn’t American
Apparently he has citizenship of the USA and Canada as well as South Africa:
According to Isaacson’s biography and an Esquire magazine profile of Musk, he became a US citizen in 2002
his (former stepsister)mother/father moved to canada, because they were mad apartheid was ending in South africa.
What a fucking sentence. This would be hammy villain building in a Bond story, yet it’s true.
By the logic of the regime he supports, that US citizenship should be revoked, and he should be deported, because he illegally immigrated to the US.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/oct/26/elon-musk-illegal-immigration
https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-illegal-immigrant-abused-162201531.html
If Trump and Elon and MAGA don’t need to abide by US immigration law, I can also just say fuck no, no he is not a US Citizen, by their own logic.
Eitherway, he definitely wasn’t born in the US.
Deported to some country he’s never been to nor a citizen of by the standards of this admin.
TIL
Someone should tell the government that.
They’d just let him in anyway, since white South Africans are the only immigrants that this admin tolerates
But they’re being persecuted back home!!!
But the migrants Americans want are what makes America great.
Musk is now a true American.
By that logic neither are millions of naturalized citizens…
I imagine some truly ugly people believe that.
Millions of naturalized citizens aren’t coming here, stealing billions of dollars from our citizens, then weaponizing their positions of power to help an enemy of the state wage an imperial war against an ally while illegally pumping millions of dollars into political campaigns to curry favor that allows them to continue acting in a brazenly illegal way.
But yeah, my stance is definitely the same as the xenophobic shit that conservatives believe.
Good way for Musk to make sure there’ll be a lot more competition in that sector at a rapid pace.
Other countries are accelerating plans. While I’m glad the world is ditching our tech, we need a kick in the teeth, I hate to see several competing constellations up there.
Europe have been riding the coat tails of America with space infrastructure. Are only now looking to replace GPS. ESA will hopefully learn some lessons from starlink and make them less reflective and cause less environmental damage when they fall back down.
Only now looking to replace GPS? Mate, Galileo, the European GNSS, has been operational for many years (10?) with the first launch 2 decades ago.
And he won’t be considered in bids.
And he’ll get pissy about it and try to sue them.
It’s insane that obscene wealth has made him an American potentate, with great influence over not only our domestic policy, but foreign as well.
Not because Elon is strong, but because America is weak.
Between him being given massive government contracts and Melania being the first lady, I don’t think America really has a problem with illegal immigrants. Just the poor illegal immigrants.
Nah, America loves poor illegal immigrants, too. They’re super exploitable what with the constant fear of deportation. They’re just not allowed to feel like equals.
MARK plays russian politics with PUTIN, and with turmp.
My man, you gotta explain that one?
Probably refers to zuckerberg
Starshield is a separate network with additional capabilities for military use. That is what Ukraine should use for drone strikes.
Starlink is a civilian global internet service. Should a civilian network be used for war operations?
Musk is a malignant narcissist, but for once he was making sense.
when Russia attacked the satellite network Ukraine was using Musk sold them Starlink because Starshield didn’t exist.
It kind of wasn’t OK for them to use civil tech for war and for musk to turn it on or off when he wanted so the Pentagon put the hardware under their contract.
I’m not sure where the current problems come from. It’s still being turned off and on but now both Musk and the US government don’t admit who turns it off so I’m guessing it’s Israel asking the US to disrupt Europe.
The confusion is deliberate. From the media and zelenksy too
From what I read, Starshield was what got shut down this time. In 2022, Starlink was what got shut down.
The fascist right sure are distilling a super capable super advanced foe for themselves without meaning to. I look forward to the day they find out Ukraine trained the modern allies to kick their asses in the next world war.
Politics is a weird way to spell super-villian.
I wonder if this is Putin directly threatening Musk with the destruction of Starlink. Starlink is SpaceX’s only profitable business. It brings in over 60% of the companies revenue. Though if Russia initiated or accelerated the Kessler syndrome, everyone would be pissed so probably a bluff…
I’m not sure that it would be practical to take out starlink. They’re small satellites in an enormously large space. I guess we don’t know what we don’t know about space weaponry.
If something travelling retrograde in the same plane as starlink were to fragment, it could easilly destroy thousands of satellites. Mostly temporary, since stuff at that altitude will fall to earth inside a year or so without propulsion.
he did turn it off in 2022, right when putin was getting mad, and shortly after he met with putins propagandist team in QATAR i believe(car racing events).
Its far easier and more likely that Putin has compromat on Elon and is just telling him what to do. Its the most likely reason Trump and Elon are in lock step over the Ukrainian Starlink problems. Putin is really pressured over the recent increased range of Ukrainian attacks and wants it to stop so will risk his prime assets.
Even trump isn’t dumb enough to think the pitiful amount of fuel he buying from Putin will impact fuel prices in the US, but it does give Putin some signifcant short term funds for laundering Iranian oil.
Iran is making out gangbusters from this whole shebang. Tolls on shipping, more cash from the US via Russian drone orders. It’s almost like Trump & co. are imbeciles.
Or Iike Trump Iran and putin are working this all together
That would be an another incredible display of stupidity and lack of insight on Musks part. Folding to a mere threat is worse than any physical attack for starlink as a defense contractor. Russia almost certainly lacks the ability to significantly damage the constellation, while losses would be covered by insurance and other means. Forcing Putin into action would either call his bluff or show his hand. The world would see a demonstration of Russian ant satellite technology and be able to adapt. A kinetic approach would probably go Kessler syndrome and even if not, it receive very severe international condemnation and pushback from everyone with a space program including China and India. A electronic attack would get a workaround eventually and still piss off everyone who operates in that hemisphere.
With musk and a idiot POTUS. ? , where have you lived the last 2 years
