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Posted on 08/05/2026 10:01:31 PM PDT by SmokingJoe
Elon Musk reveals what happens when a rocket launch needs approval from Fish and Wildlife
Elon: "Nonetheless, we were forced to kidnap a seal, strap it to a board, put headphones on the seal and play sonic boom sounds to it to see if it would be distressed."
Elon: "This is an actual thing that happened. This is actually real. I have pictures."
Before the seal, there was a shark.
Elon: "One of the things that was a bit of a challenge at one point is that they were worried about our rocket hitting a shark."
He asked for the data to calculate the odds. They refused, in case shark hunters got hold of it.
Elon: "Then they said, well, there's another part of Fish and Wildlife that can do this analysis. I'm like, well, why don't you give them the data? They don't, we don't trust them. Like, excuse me, but they're literally in your department."
Then a second agency raised whales.
Elon: "If our rocket does hit a whale, which is extremely unlikely beyond all belief, that whale has some seriously bad luck. It's the least lucky whale ever."
The seal test was for launches out of Vandenberg, where the seal population has been rising for years.
Elon: "So if anything, rocket booms are an aphrodisiac based on the evidence."
Elon: "The amazing part is how calm the seal was. Because if I was a seal, I'd be like, this is the end. They're definitely gonna eat me."
Elon: "Its seal buddies are never gonna believe him that he got strapped to a board and they put headphones on his ears."
They did it twice.
Elon: "I don't think the public is quite aware of the madness that goes on."
(Excerpt) Read more at x.com ...
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lol.
Elon has near the patience of Job. no wonder he’s so successful.
And this my friends is what will lead to the end of western civilization. Unbridled bureaucracy pursuing petty, meaningless rules and regulations because they can.
It’s amazing that we get anything into space anymore. I think the nature lovers would be happiest with humans back in caves.
I have no doubt of this story. It’s what happens when bureaucrats grab legalese as twisted through their fantasies. The key word here is “harass,” which is not permitted under the Marine Mammal Protection Act. The term then conflates with anything one chooses to deem harassment. Is it mild annoyance?Is it any reaction at all? The thresholds become a matter of virtue signaling, with metrics increasingly minute. The more minute the granularity the more it costs and the more insane become the means of making that determination.
I am reminded of the last time a process I had invented needed an air quality permit. The minute threshold was one pound of VOC per day. It didn’t matter if the process machinery was the size of a city block or a kid with a spray can. Worse, the bigger the process the more likely it would fail, but for the error in the test! I determined that the error in measurement was big enough that if I tested the process enough times, would eventually get a zero result. Bingo.
Never mind that an average tree in that area produces about eight times the maximum threshold. It’s called “phytogenic VOC.”
And disturb or break the fragile structures? I think not!
They want us back up in the trees.
It is not just the governmental bureacracy that has lost its collective mind. Have you dealt with an insurance company lately? Or any other organization that is not a sole proprietorship? Stupidity and ineptitude play a starring role in every last outfit in the country where there are more than a handful of people. Any time you hear “It is our policy that ...” you know that you are dealing with people who are too stupid to make a decision on their own. Now when you have to deal with “an organization” you get a choice of an AI programmed by an idiot, or an actual idiot who can barely express themselves in standard english.
.
A great illustration of extreme gov’t agency overreach and law firms/lawyers “hard at work”.
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