Earlier today, Elon Musk announced on X that Tesla had “just started Tesla Robotaxi drives in Austin with no safety monitor in the car.” Tesla’s stock immediately jumped over 4% on the news. Headlines across the financial press celebrated the milestone.It looks less obviously ridiculous than having "driver" in your driverless car, but it is actually more ridiculous of course!
There’s just one problem: it appears to be another game of smoke and mirrors. The Robotaxi cars spotted without “safety monitor” were all being followed by a trailing black Tesla supervising the “driverless” Robotaxi.
Friday, January 23, 2026
Shot, Chaser
The simple explanation for this is Tesla couldn't manage to set up the remote intervention system that Waymo does its best to obscure but not hide entirely, so this is what they do.
Thursday, January 22, 2026
Would You Like To Try That Again, James
Obviously that they're constant shameless liars isn't good, but he did feel some pressure to walk this back a bit.
Speaking at the White House, Vance appeared to try to stymie any efforts by Minnesota prosecutors to pursue a criminal case against the agent.
“The precedent here is very simple. You have a federal law enforcement official engaging in federal law enforcement action – that’s a federal issue. That guy is protected by absolute immunity. He was doing his job,” Vance said, echoing others in the Trump administration. “I’ve never seen anything like that. It would get tossed out by a judge.”
JD Vance: "I didn't say that officers who engaged in wrongdoing would enjoy immunity. That's absurd. What I did say is that when federal law enforcement officers violate the law that's typically something federal officials would look into. We don't want these guys to have kangaroo courts."
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) January 22, 2026 at 7:52 PM
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Breaking the Law
We knew they were misusing the data because there was no proper use for it, but if they are admitting to this then just how bad is it?
After months of denials, the Trump administration has acknowledged in a federal court filing that employees working for Elon Musk’s supposed cost-cutting operation accessed and improperly shared Americans’ sensitive social security data.
The justice department court filing, submitted on Friday in an ongoing lawsuit, reveals that a member of the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) signed a secret data-sharing agreement with an unidentified political advocacy group whose stated aim was to find evidence of voter fraud and overturn election results in certain states.
Metaphors
Good job, James David.
Vance on the economy: "You don't turn the Titanic around overnight"
— FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky.social) January 22, 2026 at 3:15 PM
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What's In The IV
Trump's hand bruises aren't from shaking a lot of hands, of course. What do we think is in the IVs that he is hooked up to for extended periods?
But What Do Extreme Violations Of The 4th Amendment Have To Do With The Price Of Eggs
Seems bad (and they know it is bad, which is why they are hiding it).
Even the Newsmax guy can see it...
An internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement document in May shows that ICE told officers and agents they can forcibly enter homes of people subject to deportation without warrants signed by judges.This kind of thing isn't hard to oppose! More than oppose, to center in a campaign in year 250 of our glorious nation!
Even the Newsmax guy can see it...
And They Can Do It To Her Again, Today
And probably will, as retaliation for speaking out.
I WILL ALWAYS FIGHT FOR YOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUU.
I am open to the idea that certain budgetary machinations are above my silly little brain, and that the Dems Know What They Are Doing, but there is an aspect of basic politics which is showing people that you are on their side, that you are at least trying to rescue them, and the leadership in Congress is so bad at this basic, fundamental form of politics.Nasra Ahmed, a 23-year-old US citizen, was arrested and detained by ICE. She was held for TWO DAYS. ICE agents handcuffed her, called her a racial slur, and she was knocked to the ground so hard she got a concussion. This cannot continue happening. ICE needs to leave.
— Minnesota House DFL (@mnhousedfl.bsky.social) January 22, 2026 at 1:42 AM
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I WILL ALWAYS FIGHT FOR YOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUU.
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
Better
And Jeffries is supposedly coming out against the funding bill which is certainly better than not... but ultimately performance.The people carrying out Trump’s illegal orders think they’re untouchable. They’re not. Trump won’t be in power forever to protect them. Accountability is coming. We will bring them to justice. That’s a promise.
— Rep. Jimmy Gomez (@gomez.house.gov) January 21, 2026 at 4:05 PM
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But What About The Price Of Eggs, Mr. President
Sometimes I think I am too hard on the Washington Generals, and then..
Trump is more focused on acquiring Greenland than on lowering costs for you and your family.
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@pocan.house.gov) January 21, 2026 at 4:23 PM
I'm not against discussing "affordability." I don't think they only have to talk about one thing. I just really hate portraying other things - like threatening to invade and maybe actually invading Greenland - as distractions instead of important things in and of themselves!Donald Trump should focus on the price of groceries, not Greenland. Americans can’t afford distractions. www.reuters.com/business/dav...
— Rep. Sam Liccardo (@liccardo.house.gov) January 21, 2026 at 2:45 PM
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President Deals
Have they figured out that he doesn't honor them? That a real "trade deal" has to go through Congress, according to the constitution? Sure nothing is binding, really, in the era of Trump, but "a trade deal with Trump" isn't even pretend binding.
BRUSSELS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The European Parliament has decided to suspend its work on the European Union's trade deal with the United States in protest at U.S. President Donald Trump's demands to acquire Greenland and threats of tariffs on European allies who oppose his plan.
Hippie Cars
I've been somewhat of an EV skeptic. I don't mean I was against them, just that I thought that adoption timelines were a bit optimistic and that the emphasis on replacing gas cars with electric ones distracted from the more important goal of reducing auto dependency.
We need to create built environment such that it isn't difficult to be without one car per driving age household member. We need to create more places where many more people can satisfy most of their non-commute daily needs without a car, at a minimum. It isn't actually difficult.
Still I didn't doubt that EVs were inevitable. Whether or not the Biden push for them was overall a good use of resources is one question, but certainly reversing course, nullifying promises, and actively fighting them is ridiculous.
We need to create built environment such that it isn't difficult to be without one car per driving age household member. We need to create more places where many more people can satisfy most of their non-commute daily needs without a car, at a minimum. It isn't actually difficult.
Still I didn't doubt that EVs were inevitable. Whether or not the Biden push for them was overall a good use of resources is one question, but certainly reversing course, nullifying promises, and actively fighting them is ridiculous.
This is the kiss of death for American car sales in Canada. You can get a Chinese Xiaomi sedan with 300-plus miles of range, more than 600 horsepower, and extremely fancy luxury trimmings for the equivalent of about $42,000 in China; or you can get a Chinese BYD Seagull with 190 miles of range for about $11,000. I would bet that the next step for Chinese automakers is to build a factory in Toronto or somewhere nearby so Canada can get a slice of the jobs and production.For various reasons, the rest of the world will soon be buying cheap BYD EVs and... Americans won't.
More broadly, the American EV transition has clearly hit the skids, thanks to Trump. Sales plummeted by about 46 percent when the tax credit for purchase expired at the end of September. Ford took a $19.5 billion bath on a planned battery factory investment, canceled its F-150 EV, and is now reportedly in talks with—wait for it—BYD to pick up batteries for its hybrid cars sold abroad. GM is doing better, but its EV sales are still down sharply, as are Tesla’s.
Contrary to the triumphalism of various EV critics, all this horrendous waste does not mean that the global EV transition is now in question. As I have previously detailed, in 2025 a quarter of global car sales were EVs, led by Southeast Asia, where the EV share of new car sales in several nations has soared past the 40 percent mark, with many more nations just behind. China, the largest car market in the world, went from almost zero to more than half in just five years. America’s failure to gain a serious toehold in EV production—particularly very cheap models—is a major reason why the Big Three’s share of the global auto market has fallen from nearly 30 percent in 2000 to about 12 percent today, while China’s share has risen from 2 percent to 42 percent.
Thousand Words
One thing that bothered me during Trump I - weirdly, in some ways more than even now! - was how so many people around him obviously had no sense of the importance of "running the government/country." Even if you're evil, planning to do nothing but evil, it's still a big responsibility!
I'm sure this face captures her regular inner thoughts pretty well, and yet she doesn't care! She goes out there every day and supports it!
I'm sure this face captures her regular inner thoughts pretty well, and yet she doesn't care! She goes out there every day and supports it!
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