Free Republic

A Chechen warlord who claimed Elon Musk gifted him a Cybertruck accused the Telsa CEO on Thursday of “remotely” disabling the machine-gun-mounted vehicle, which needed to be towed off the Russian battlefield. Ramzan Kadyrov, 47, the ruthless president of Russia’s Chechnya region, claimed that his Cybertruck stopped working after he revealed it was sent into the Northern Military District for Russian troops to use in the war on Ukraine. “Elon Musk behaved badly,” Kadyrov wrote on Telegram, according to Politico. “He gives expensive gifts from the bottom of his heart and then remotely disconnects them.”Chechen warlord, Putin ally accuses Elon...

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk is threatening to sue the Federal Aviation Administration for "regulatory overreach" after the agency said earlier this week it plans to fine the company $630,000 for allegedly bypassing regulations on two of its launches in 2023. SpaceX on Thursday sent a letter to Congress to challenge the fine, and Musk attacked the FAA through his X account, reports The Post Millennial on Friday. He accused the FAA's leaders of spending resources to attack his company "while neglecting real safety issues at Boeing" and said that puts lives at risk.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it intends to seek sanctions against Elon Musk after he failed to appear and testify in court amid the agency's probe into his $44 billion takeover of Twitter, which he renamed X. The SEC is asking for a court order to show cause why the Tesla CEO and SpaceX owner should not be held in civil contempt after he said he wouldn't appear a mere three hours before the scheduled Sept. 10 testimony, Reuters reported, citing a filing in San Francisco federal court. Musk's actions violated a May 31 court order compelling his...

There are many damning anecdotes in Kate Conger and Ryan Mac’s new book, “Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter,” but one from February of last year perfectly captures the astonishing pettiness of the world’s richest man. Attending the Super Bowl as a guest of Rupert Murdoch, Musk had one of the most luxurious seats in the house, but rather than watching the game, he was glued to his phone in dismay. Both he and President Biden had sent tweets cheering on the Philadelphia Eagles, but even though Biden had far fewer followers than Musk on the platform, the president’s...

California Governor Gavin Newsom threatened legal action against Elon Musk for sharing a funny meme on X. Newsom this week signed into law a bill that makes it illegal to ‘knowingly distribute an ad or other election communications that contain materially deceptive content, including deepfakes.’ Who determines what is ‘materially deceptive?” Gavin Newsom? Of course, this law will only be used to criminally charge Trump supporters for exercising their First Amendment rights. -- snip -- Elon Musk trolled Gavin Newsom and encouraged X users to share a Kamala Harris parody campaign ad. -- snip -- “The governor of California just...

While Vice President Kamala Harris surges ahead in polls against her Republican rival Donald Trump, she hasn’t found much traction in the business and investing world. Hedge fund manager John Paulson, the founder of New York-based investment firm Paulson & Co. said on Tuesday in a media appearance that he would pull his money off the market in the eventuality of a Harris win, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk flagged something even more ominous. The market timing and investor timing will depend on who the president is, said Paulson in an interview with Fox News. “If Harris was elected [I]...

Elon Musk revels in the role of “free speech absolutist.” Last week, for instance, he jumped to the defense of Pavel Durov, the head of the messaging and social media app Telegram, after he was arrested by the French police. But while Musk claims he is a defender of free speech, he frequently kowtows to the Chinese Communist Party, for whom the concept is alien. Musk is now the CCP’s favorite western capitalist. So although he is eager to tell his 196 million Twitter followers that “Britain is turning into the Soviet Union,” he has avoided antagonizing China. He has...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is being investigated for his now-deleted post questioning the assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump. Musk’s post caught the attention of the Secret Service after he questioned the lack of attempts on the lives of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” Musk wrote on X. The X owner then followed up with a reply to his own post, writing: “Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s going to be all...

@elonmusk Unless Trump is elected, America will fall to tyranny. Trump must win.

How awful are world politics today? It has me giving money to two billionaires — Donald Trump and Elon Musk. They are real life Obi-Wan Kenobis. One is fighting for my country, the other for my God-given, shove-it-up-the-censors right to free speech. Google messed around with me and I ditched it for Substack, where I am happier and my readers don’t have to put up with advertisements. While the Derp State keeps going after Trump with indictments, mugshots and assassination bullets, Musk is fighting the second worst people in the world — the European Union. The worst work at the...

"The next fight of Starship is ready to fly. We are waiting on regulatory approval. It shouldn’t be possible to build a giant rocket faster than the paper can move from one desk to another."US Congress, NASA is NOW Forcing FAA for Starship Soaring! Here's Why | 10:00ALPHA TECH | 96.1K subscribers | 9,367 views | September 17, 2024

The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) cautioned the New York State Assembly that pursuing legislation with a narrow definition of employees and independent contractors (IC) could greatly injure the travel agency community in America’s fourth largest state. New York State is considering legislation that would amend state labor laws, tightening the definition of independent contractors and full-time employees. Senate Bill S6699A is sponsored by Robert Jackson, (D, 31st District), and is currently in the Senate Rules Committee. No movement is expected on the proposed legislation until the state legislature reconvenes in January 2020. The Assembly’s version is Bill A8721A....

The California lawmaker who wrote a consequential law requiring employers to provide benefits to more workers announced on Monday that she is resigning from the Assembly to become the chief executive of the state’s most powerful labor organization.

California has claimed victory over the horrible abuse and exploitation of workers at the hands of evil employers with a new bill, AB666, which will make it a crime to work for a living. The new bill, signed into law by Governor Newsom Thursday, will stop the mistreatment of workers forever by making it illegal to work. "Employers used to do bad things -- well, not anymore," said Newsom at the bill signing. "Not on my watch. This solution is guided by SCIENCE. Leading SCIENTISTS say that when you can't work, you can't be exploited by evil corporations and wicked...

As president, Biden would replicate California’s repressive AB5 law. “Last year California passed AB5 affording gig workers protections and benefits like a minimum wage and overtime pay,” Joe Biden tweeted on Tuesday. “Now, gig economy giants are trying to gut the law and exempt their workers. It’s unacceptable. I urge Californians to vote no on the initiative this November.” The initiative, qualified for the ballot on May 22, establishes criteria for determining whether rideshare drivers are “employees” or “independent contractors.” AB5 also targets freelance writers and independent contractors in dozens of professions, including health care. Joe Biden was all in...

Californian independent contractors and freelancers got quite a shock Thursday evening when a state senator compared lost jobs to “lollipops.” Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson represents the 19th District in western Ventura County and Santa Barbara County. In a Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement meeting officials heard arguments for and against pushing forward SB 806 and SB990. The bills — put forth by Republican senators John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) and Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) — aimed to immediately suspend and amend the disastrous AB5 legislation that killed independent contracting/freelance jobs across the state. Moorlach and Grove have been two politicians at the...

Since California’s controversial anti-freelancer bill was signed into law in September 2019, one (not unpredictable) result has been staffing shortages in the healthcare industry, particularly in fields generally staffed by contractors or locum tenens providers: physicians assistants, nurses, nurse anesthetists, and respiratory therapists. As the Wuhan coronavirus made its way into California, advocates who’ve been pushing to fix/amend/repeal AB5 let Asm. Lorena Gonzalez, the bill’s author, know in no uncertain terms that unless enforcement of AB5 was suspended until the crisis passed Californians who needed care from these professionals would die. Gonzalez didn’t listen, and people are dying. The populations...

Are California Democrats—responsible for the state’s new anti-gig-worker law, AB5—so out of touch that they’re not aware of the growing anger of their constituents? It appears so. Since AB5 took effect on January 1, hundreds of thousands of Californians are finding their businesses in tatters. Musicians can’t join bands for a one-night gig, chefs can’t join forces with caterers, nurses can’t work at various hospitals, and writers must cap their submissions per media outlet to 35 per year. Under the law, these freelancers can no longer conduct the same business-to-business transactions they have for years or even decades. Clients with...

When Elon Musk took over Twitter in 2022, it marked a new era for the struggling San Francisco company. Twitter, now known as X, is expected to close its San Francisco headquarters this month, leaving behind the Mid-Market neighborhood it has called home since 2012. The company is reportedly moving its headquarters to Austin, Texas, but plans to relocate its San Francisco employees to San José and Palo Alto, ... ... another blow to a city...buffeted by high-profile business departures and once held up Twitter as a key part of its revival. Downtown San Francisco's vacancy rates have ballooned... Confronted...

First Elon Musk, now Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg’s company, Meta (formerly Facebook), announced it would lease offices in a massive new building in Austin, Texas. Big tech companies, who cut their teeth and built empires in California, are fleeing the state and relocating to Texas. It's almost as if high taxes, stifling corporate regulations, and out-of-control housing costs are unattractive to businesses and long-term sustainability. Who knew? The Austin Business Journal was among the first to report on Meta’s move. “Months of speculation have come to an end as California-based Meta Platforms Inc. — the parent company of Facebook — recently...