Mar 8, 2025
Mar 7, 2025
On The Eve Of Something
What are the signs that we may be in the terminal stages
of Late Stage Capitalism?
Overheard
On dealing with authoritarian pressures
- They don't expect - and can't really handle - long term resistance. They see us as collections of emotional trauma triggers, easily controlled through fear.
- If they can't terrorize us 24/7, they've already lost.
- Resisting fascism depends on not giving in to the terror impulse we all feel when the bully comes at us. Protect your mental health so you're not in the constant state of terror they need you to be in.
- Staying in touch with who we are - our core values, preferences, beliefs, honor, and ethics - helps to build and reinforce the inner strength we need to stay resistant.
- They are no different than an abusive parent or partner who sees us only as extensions of themselves - disconnected and isolated from everything they need to feel whole. They know how powerful we are when we stay connected to each other, and they'll work to break us down into smaller and smaller groups, and to set us against one another.
It sounds kinda hokey - to me anyway - but finding community, and making common cause with as many people as possible is still the best way to honor our own unique humanity. Not just to see ourselves in other people, but to see them in us as well.
Stoned Elmo
Although he's made public statements about being a "regular user", I'm not aware of any really solid confirmation of Elon's suspected ketamine addiction. But can we dismiss the probability altogether?
Politician Rips Elon Musk as a ‘Jester High on Ketamine’
A French politician has mocked Elon Musk as a “jester high on ketamine,” and compared Donald Trump to Nero.
Claude Malhuret also called the world’s richest man a “traitor” for abandoning Ukraine, in a speech discussing discussing European support for the nation.
“Washington has become Nero’s court, with an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers and a jester high on ketamine in charge of purging the civil service,” Malhuret said in a speech
Malhuret, leader of the center-right party, The Independents, called Trump a dictator, and said, “We were at war with a dictator, we are now at war with a dictator backed by a traitor.”
In the past week alone, Trump has cut military aid to Ukraine after berating President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House and floated lifting sanctions on Russia, even as Ukraine continues to fight off Russian invasion.
The “traitor” referenced in Malhuret’s speech, Musk, was once a vital backer of Ukraine. The billionaire has since flipped, and echoed Trump’s rhetoric after last week’s Oval Office meeting, accusing Zelensky of wanting a “forever war” in a post on X.
Malhuret, wearing a pin showing Ukraine’s national flag, referenced Musk’s ketamine use, which the billionaire has admitted to using every other week to treat what he called a “negative chemical state” in his brain.
The Daily Beast has contacted Musk for comment.
Republicans—the “submissive courtiers” in Malhuret’s image of an unhinged court—have largely taken a backseat in Trump’s second term. As Trump has carried out legally questionable executive actions and orders firing FBI executives and federal prosecutors, Republicans have stayed mum.
Trump set the tone early in his term, making clear that GOP lawmakers who don’t submit to him will be cast aside.
A White House official put it bluntly in January, telling NBC News that Senate Republicans should “advise and consent, not advise and adjust.”
Nero ruled Rome from AD 54 until AD 68, entering myth for purportedly fiddling while the city burned. He committed suicide after being declared a public enemy by the senate.
(hard pay wall)
Research has not yet established the side effects of long-term ketamine therapy, but older studies of recreational users offer some insight on heavy, extended dosing.
Celia Morgan, now a psychopharmacology professor at the University of Exeter, in England, led a 2010 study that followed 120 recreational ketamine users for a year. Even infrequent users—those who used, on average, roughly three times a month—scored higher on a delusional-thought scale than ex–ketamine users, people who took other drugs, and people who didn’t use drugs at all. Those who averaged 20 uses a month scored even higher. People believed that they were the sole recipients of secret messages, or that society and people around them were especially attuned to them," writes Shayla Love.
BTW, 90% of ketamine metabolites are passed through your bladder. Maybe we need to be a bit more diligent about drug testing certain people who're making some pretty heavy decisions.
A French politician has mocked Elon Musk as a “jester high on ketamine,” and compared Donald Trump to Nero.
Claude Malhuret also called the world’s richest man a “traitor” for abandoning Ukraine, in a speech discussing discussing European support for the nation.
“Washington has become Nero’s court, with an incendiary emperor, submissive courtiers and a jester high on ketamine in charge of purging the civil service,” Malhuret said in a speech
Malhuret, leader of the center-right party, The Independents, called Trump a dictator, and said, “We were at war with a dictator, we are now at war with a dictator backed by a traitor.”
In the past week alone, Trump has cut military aid to Ukraine after berating President Volodymyr Zelensky in the White House and floated lifting sanctions on Russia, even as Ukraine continues to fight off Russian invasion.
The “traitor” referenced in Malhuret’s speech, Musk, was once a vital backer of Ukraine. The billionaire has since flipped, and echoed Trump’s rhetoric after last week’s Oval Office meeting, accusing Zelensky of wanting a “forever war” in a post on X.
Malhuret, wearing a pin showing Ukraine’s national flag, referenced Musk’s ketamine use, which the billionaire has admitted to using every other week to treat what he called a “negative chemical state” in his brain.
The Daily Beast has contacted Musk for comment.
Republicans—the “submissive courtiers” in Malhuret’s image of an unhinged court—have largely taken a backseat in Trump’s second term. As Trump has carried out legally questionable executive actions and orders firing FBI executives and federal prosecutors, Republicans have stayed mum.
Trump set the tone early in his term, making clear that GOP lawmakers who don’t submit to him will be cast aside.
A White House official put it bluntly in January, telling NBC News that Senate Republicans should “advise and consent, not advise and adjust.”
Nero ruled Rome from AD 54 until AD 68, entering myth for purportedly fiddling while the city burned. He committed suicide after being declared a public enemy by the senate.
Mar 6, 2025
Elon Couldn't Quite Get It Up
Not so much a "not sorry not sorry" on this one.
SpaceX’s latest Starship test flight ends with another explosion
Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another mammoth Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as the spacecraft came tumbling down and broke apart.
This time, wreckage from the latest explosion was seen streaming from the skies over Florida. It was not immediately known whether the spacecraft’s self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up.
The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket blasted off from Texas. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost as the spacecraft went into an out-of-control spin.
Starship reached nearly 90 miles (150 kilometers) in altitude before trouble struck and before four mock satellites could be deployed. It was not immediately clear where it came down, but images of flaming debris were captured from Florida, including near Cape Canaveral, and posted online.
The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour.
“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.
SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly” during the ascent engine firing. “Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses,” the company said in a statement posted online.
Starship didn’t make it quite as high or as far as last time.
NASA has booked Starship to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX’s Elon Musk is aiming for Mars with Starship, the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket.
Like last time, Starship had mock satellites to release once the craft reached space on this eighth test flight as a practice for future missions. They resembled SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, thousands of which currently orbit Earth, and were meant to fall back down following their brief taste of space.
Starship’s flaps, computers and fuel system were redesigned in preparation for the next big step: returning the spacecraft to the launch site just like the booster.
During the last demo, SpaceX captured the booster at the launch pad, but the spacecraft blew up several minutes later over the Atlantic. No injuries or major damage were reported.
According to an investigation that remains ongoing, leaking fuel triggered a series of fires that shut down the spacecraft’s engines. The on-board self-destruct system kicked in as planned.
SpaceX said it made several improvements to the spacecraft following the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration recently cleared Starship once more for launch.
Starships soar out of the southernmost tip of Texas near the Mexican border. SpaceX is building another Starship complex at Cape Canaveral, home to the company’s smaller Falcon rockets that ferry astronauts and satellites to orbit.
I'd like it a lot better if Elmo stuck with fucking up his rockets and stayed the fuck outa everybody else's business.
Nearly two months after an explosion sent flaming debris raining down on the Turks and Caicos, SpaceX launched another mammoth Starship rocket on Thursday, but lost contact minutes into the test flight as the spacecraft came tumbling down and broke apart.
This time, wreckage from the latest explosion was seen streaming from the skies over Florida. It was not immediately known whether the spacecraft’s self-destruct system had kicked in to blow it up.
The 403-foot (123-meter) rocket blasted off from Texas. SpaceX caught the first-stage booster back at the pad with giant mechanical arms, but engines on the spacecraft on top started shutting down as it streaked eastward for what was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean, half a world away. Contact was lost as the spacecraft went into an out-of-control spin.
Starship reached nearly 90 miles (150 kilometers) in altitude before trouble struck and before four mock satellites could be deployed. It was not immediately clear where it came down, but images of flaming debris were captured from Florida, including near Cape Canaveral, and posted online.
The space-skimming flight was supposed to last an hour.
“Unfortunately this happened last time too, so we have some practice at this now,” SpaceX flight commentator Dan Huot said from the launch site.
SpaceX later confirmed that the spacecraft experienced “a rapid unscheduled disassembly” during the ascent engine firing. “Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses,” the company said in a statement posted online.
Starship didn’t make it quite as high or as far as last time.
NASA has booked Starship to land its astronauts on the moon later this decade. SpaceX’s Elon Musk is aiming for Mars with Starship, the world’s biggest and most powerful rocket.
Like last time, Starship had mock satellites to release once the craft reached space on this eighth test flight as a practice for future missions. They resembled SpaceX’s Starlink internet satellites, thousands of which currently orbit Earth, and were meant to fall back down following their brief taste of space.
Starship’s flaps, computers and fuel system were redesigned in preparation for the next big step: returning the spacecraft to the launch site just like the booster.
During the last demo, SpaceX captured the booster at the launch pad, but the spacecraft blew up several minutes later over the Atlantic. No injuries or major damage were reported.
According to an investigation that remains ongoing, leaking fuel triggered a series of fires that shut down the spacecraft’s engines. The on-board self-destruct system kicked in as planned.
SpaceX said it made several improvements to the spacecraft following the accident, and the Federal Aviation Administration recently cleared Starship once more for launch.
Starships soar out of the southernmost tip of Texas near the Mexican border. SpaceX is building another Starship complex at Cape Canaveral, home to the company’s smaller Falcon rockets that ferry astronauts and satellites to orbit.
Overheard
You're fired.
You're un-fired.
You're on furlough.
You can take a buyout and then quit.
Y'know what - just send us an email listing 5 things you did last week, and get that to us tomorrow or you're fired.
Nah - forget it - you're just fired again.
But hold on - looks like your job is important. Come on back.
And you're fired again.
Come into the office though, cuz maybe we should let you stay.
Nope - sorry - we took down all the computers so you're still fired. Go home.
See ya Monday bright-n-early. If you're late, you're fired.
Thank you. We are The Department Of Government Efficiency.
Lost Another'n
It's starting to get really clear for me why Trump has been going so far out of his way to get his MAGAgoons to view judges with disdain.
Labor regulator Trump fired must be reinstated, judge rules
Gwynne Wilcox was appointed by Joe Biden to head the National Labor Relations Board. Trump tried to fire her in January.
A federal judge repudiated President Donald Trump’s effort to remove the chair of the National Labor Relations Board, calling it an “illegal act” and “power grab” that misunderstands the limits of his authority.
“An American President is not a king — not even an ‘elected’ one,” U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote Thursday in a 36-page opinion, “and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants … is not absolute, but may be constrained in appropriate circumstances.”
Howell’s order reinstates Gwynne Wilcox to the NLRB, which plays a major role in policing labor disputes across the country. Though presidents nominate — and the Senate confirms — members of the board, federal law restricts the ability to remove board members absent “neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”
Despite that restriction, Trump fired Wilcox in a Jan. 27 email delivered by a subordinate, saying Wilcox was not working “in a manner consistent with the objectives of my administration.” The firing is part of a broader effort by the president to take control of all purportedly “independent” agencies within the executive branch and undermine decades of efforts in Washington to insulate some federal agencies from political pressure.
On Thursday, a federal workplace watchdog fired by Trump — Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger — dropped his legal bid to reclaim his post after a federal appeals court permitted his termination. Cathy Harris, a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, which oversees the grievance process for many federal employees, is also resisting Trump’s effort to remove her and was reinstated last month by a federal judge.
The Supreme Court likely will soon weigh in on Congress’ ability to insulate executive branch officials from being fired by the president without cause. With Dellinger’s decision to drop his legal fight, Harris’ case appears likeliest to reach the high court in the near-term. It’s possible Wilcox’s case will get folded into that ongoing fight.
The NLRB consists of five members who serve five-year terms. But without Wilcox, three of the board’s seats are currently vacant.
Wilcox was appointed to the NLRB by former President Joe Biden in 2023 and became the board’s chair in December 2024. She was the first NLRB member ever to be fired in the board’s 90-year history.
Trump also fired the board’s general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, in a broad effort to take control of the regulatory agency.
Howell, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, wrote that reinstating Wilcox is in the public interest because without her, the NLRB will remain without a quorum and be unable to perform its required role of resolving labor disputes. And she said that Trump had other avenues to control the direction of the board without firing Wilcox: He could have appointed two new members to fill the already vacant seats, along with a new general counsel to steer the board’s policies.
The judge also delivered a warning about Trump’s multi-faceted bid to expand presidential power. She noted that, in defending the firing of Wilcox, Justice Department lawyers cited the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity that shielded Trump from some aspects of the criminal case he faced last year for seeking to subvert the 2020 election.
“The President seems intent on pushing the bounds of his office and exercising his power in a manner violative of clear statutory law to test how much the courts will accept the notion of a presidency that is supreme,” Howell wrote. “The courts are now again forced to determine how much encroachment on the legislature our Constitution can bear and face a slippery slope toward endorsing a presidency that is untouchable by the law.”
Like everybody who's paid any attention at all, I've had my suspicions, of course, but this brings it into sharper focus.
He's determined to warp The Judiciary so it's just another rubber stamp. He's got most of Congress licking the shit off his boots, but other than 4 SCOTUS bozos and the occasional Aileen Cannon, he's been running into quite a bit of resistance.
This one though - this decision is a pretty clear message that I hope gets out far and wide.
Thank the fake lord for Beryl Howell
Gwynne Wilcox was appointed by Joe Biden to head the National Labor Relations Board. Trump tried to fire her in January.
A federal judge repudiated President Donald Trump’s effort to remove the chair of the National Labor Relations Board, calling it an “illegal act” and “power grab” that misunderstands the limits of his authority.
“An American President is not a king — not even an ‘elected’ one,” U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote Thursday in a 36-page opinion, “and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants … is not absolute, but may be constrained in appropriate circumstances.”
Howell’s order reinstates Gwynne Wilcox to the NLRB, which plays a major role in policing labor disputes across the country. Though presidents nominate — and the Senate confirms — members of the board, federal law restricts the ability to remove board members absent “neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.”
Despite that restriction, Trump fired Wilcox in a Jan. 27 email delivered by a subordinate, saying Wilcox was not working “in a manner consistent with the objectives of my administration.” The firing is part of a broader effort by the president to take control of all purportedly “independent” agencies within the executive branch and undermine decades of efforts in Washington to insulate some federal agencies from political pressure.
On Thursday, a federal workplace watchdog fired by Trump — Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger — dropped his legal bid to reclaim his post after a federal appeals court permitted his termination. Cathy Harris, a member of the Merit Systems Protection Board, which oversees the grievance process for many federal employees, is also resisting Trump’s effort to remove her and was reinstated last month by a federal judge.
The Supreme Court likely will soon weigh in on Congress’ ability to insulate executive branch officials from being fired by the president without cause. With Dellinger’s decision to drop his legal fight, Harris’ case appears likeliest to reach the high court in the near-term. It’s possible Wilcox’s case will get folded into that ongoing fight.
The NLRB consists of five members who serve five-year terms. But without Wilcox, three of the board’s seats are currently vacant.
Wilcox was appointed to the NLRB by former President Joe Biden in 2023 and became the board’s chair in December 2024. She was the first NLRB member ever to be fired in the board’s 90-year history.
Trump also fired the board’s general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, in a broad effort to take control of the regulatory agency.
Howell, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, wrote that reinstating Wilcox is in the public interest because without her, the NLRB will remain without a quorum and be unable to perform its required role of resolving labor disputes. And she said that Trump had other avenues to control the direction of the board without firing Wilcox: He could have appointed two new members to fill the already vacant seats, along with a new general counsel to steer the board’s policies.
The judge also delivered a warning about Trump’s multi-faceted bid to expand presidential power. She noted that, in defending the firing of Wilcox, Justice Department lawyers cited the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity that shielded Trump from some aspects of the criminal case he faced last year for seeking to subvert the 2020 election.
“The President seems intent on pushing the bounds of his office and exercising his power in a manner violative of clear statutory law to test how much the courts will accept the notion of a presidency that is supreme,” Howell wrote. “The courts are now again forced to determine how much encroachment on the legislature our Constitution can bear and face a slippery slope toward endorsing a presidency that is untouchable by the law.”
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