How did Elon Musk get so rich?

Sits down next to a couple of engineers at lunch, listens to what they're talking about, and solves a problem.  
Between bites.

Occasional-Cortex, YOU can't earn a billion dollars, but there are some who can.  And you hate them for it.

I've said Mike Rowe is a wonder,

and he just got a big hand in getting kids to look at the trades.  First saw mention at Kim's place, and took this from Rowe's Bookface page:
Truth is, this check has been distracting me all week. Not only did it cause me to abandon my phone in a public toilet moments before takeoff and then repeatedly misidentify the man who returned it to me, it will probably cause me to misidentify the people presenting me with this generous donation. Three genuine patriots, who I will now attempt to properly thank.

To my right, The Honorable Michael Duffey, Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment.
To my left, The Honorable Michael Cadenazzi, Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy.
And to his left, Dr. Kristin Schaaf Director of Programs for Warfighting Investments, Resourcing, and Execution.
Together, these individuals have spearheaded a long overdue initiative to reinvigorate the skilled trades. The initiative is called BuildFreedom.US, and I am proud to support their efforts, just as they are supporting mine. In short, Build Freedom is both an online resource for job seekers, and a public awareness campaign designed to shine a light on hundreds of thousands of AI-Proof, six-figure jobs currently open in the defense industrial base. These jobs can be found at BuildFreedom.US, along with work ethic scholarships from The Mike Rowe Works Foundation.
https://bit.ly/BuildFreedomUS
If you’ve followed my exploits since the Dirty Jobs days, you know that I pitched a similar campaign to Congress in 2011. Back then, the skills gap was wide and getting wider, and I was worried that our workforce was headed for a colossal imbalance. Well, sixteen years later, the government got back to me! And frankly, not a moment too soon. Hundreds of thousands of essential jobs are waiting to be filled, and the DoW is now taking affirmative steps to reinvigorate the skilled trades on a national level. I’m glad they are, and I’m happy to help them spread the word. I’ll have lots more to say about Build Freedom in the coming weeks and months, and if you live in Texas, Pennsylvania, or Michigan, you’ll likely be seeing me all over the place. With luck, the campaign will spread quickly, and the scholarship money I’ve just deposited will be quickly spent and replenished, as we train the next generation of skilled workers our country so urgently needs. It really is an honor to participate in this endeavor, and I want to thank the people in the photo one more time, especially Aliscia Andrews and Matt Draper, who will bear the daily brunt of making Build Freedom a national success. Closing the skills gap is now a matter of national security, and this administration is the first to accept my offer to help make that a reality. Good luck to you all, and Happy Independence Day.

(And by “you all,” I include Matt/Zach/Corey, for his/their role in getting me to the Pentagon in time to accept this check. Whatever your name really is, I couldn’t have done it without you.)

Starmer is stepping down

Finally.  And, of course, after he got more final insults and threats to anyone who wouldn't kiss his and Labour's ass.

I'm curious just how he'll word his "You bloody bigoted and racist peasants have let me down!" announcement, too.  From some pictures I saw of the rally today- of which there are damn few*- I'm wondering if the numbers were so bad he was afraid, finally, not to quit.

*I looked at a couple of Brit 'news' sites where there was not one mention of it, let alone any pictures.  Got to keep kissing the Stalin wannabes asses right up to the end, I guess.

Agreed: ' Do unto rotten feds as rotten feds would do unto you. (link fixed)

Full process. Starting with pre-dawn raid and perp walk.'

Oh yes, very much so.

Further sign of disaster in Washington,

And a sign of hope from Sweden, of all places

And yeah, I'll bet that has all the right people screaming in agony

(click on to embiggen)

Three things to note before I go out to take care of business

First, the Southern Poverty Law Center is just a big a bunch of garbage as you ever thought.

Oh, look who a 'media bias group' hired to say the left-wing sites are more trustworthy...

I don't know about 'bigger than the war', but it IS a really big deal.

You're part of the Iranian regime 'security' forces

You've spent a lot of time beating, murdering, raping, and torturing anyone who does, well, anything you don't approve of.

Now you have no air defenses, and the people who hate your guts can get word to the Israelis "We're looking at a bunch of them at this place", and place a large target on you.

Oh yeah, that works.

From a discussion at Fecesbook based on this picture

One of my questions about the asshats running that country is
I wonder of the idiots in charge have any real idea how much they damage the future of the country with these actions? Or if they just don't care?

Guy's response
why would they care? They're Arab occupiers presiding over a Persian colony
True, which brings up my question:
One of the questions I have for the 'decolonize' people: "Why aren't you calling to decolonize all the people conquered by Moslems?"
And every time someone starts that "Decolonize!" crap, they need to be asked that question.

And personally, I think said people in charge, and all their minions performing these murders, need to be hanged.  Or borrow an old idea from Vlad:

It appears the Labour creation has come around

and is being used to kick them in the ass.  Hard.
People saw a perfect accidental parody of how the establishment treats ordinary dissent:
If you question orthodoxy, you’re not wrong — you’re dangerous.
If you wave a Union Jack, you’re not patriotic — you’re extreme.
If you ask questions, you need monitoring.

So people did what the internet always does when power looks stupid:
They laughed.
They memed.
They stripped the moral panic naked.

Now we’re told there’s a “highly coordinated hate network” behind it all.
Sure. Or maybe — stay with me —
people are done being lectured by institutions that despise them.


And, taking the lesson, there are people in other countries doing the same thing.
And Amelia isn’t limited to the British. Creators from other nations are already generating their own variants. Germany has “Maria, Brazil has Ana, France has Jeanne, and just today The Netherlands gained Emma. Different aesthetics, same function — a feminine symbol of national continuity in a culture that insists such continuity is either imaginary or dangerous.

To my English-speaking followers: You asked, and I listened! 🇩🇪🇬🇧

Due to massive demand, I’ve added English subtitles to the German Amelia/Maria video. Now the message can be understood worldwide

Please share this and help it go viral. Let’s reach everyone!
Well done, people.  Keep it going.

Holy crap, sounds like the assistance to the Persians is ongoing,

including dealing with regime commanders.

Borrowed from Instapundit

 

"Oh no!

Anyway..."
Cuba says 32 Cuban officers were killed in US operation in Venezuela

There's reason Larry Correia said 'The moral compass of the left is a windsock':

Oh, this must piss off the Brit PM.  Assuming it doesn't scare hell out of him.


It seems that two news agencies- NYeffingTimes and Washington Post- had information about the operation leaked to them, but they- unexpectedly- did NOT publish it prior to the strike.  Which is nice for a change.

Why not?

I can think of two reasons:

1. There may be a few people there who actually think putting US troops and a mission in danger is a bad idea.

2. "You know what our ratings are with the average someone?  Troops get wounded, or killed, or crippled because we put this out, they'll want to hang us!  And what do you think Trump will have to say about us? "

I think 2 is more likely.  And I hope there is some very careful digging to find how WHO leaked it to them, so the bastard can be punished appropriately(I'll leave you to decide just what that would be).

About the EffingBI and 'Do you want people to say "I won't do that" instead of following orders?

 question, yes.  And yes, I know that's a "Sir, I cannot in good conscience do this" that can get you transferred, possibly fired.  Or it would be "If my orders are to do this no matter what, I'll give you my resignation.

That's the same on the officers in charge of the pile of shit known as the retreat from Afghanistan; some of those high-rankers could have resigned their commission rather than carry out stupid/insane orders.  

No, they didn't.  They should have.

"If you conservatives do something, the left might hit you back in the future!"

Yeah, like they already did.

Ever notice how many of their threats are "Don't make us do it to you again!" ?


A piece on the Socialist Rifle Association.  Which includes the "I have to do this because so many of you want me dead!"  Which is funny, because nobody would care about them if they weren't promising/threatening to blow up things and kill people.


Well, of course that's how they'll put it.

Knowing he was back on last night, I purposely searched out a leftie rag to see their take on it, and poof - right there on the front page of TheGuardian.com - is exactly what I was looking for.

Note how they couch shit. It was Trump who got him suspended. Disney was to blame for bowing to the hard right, etc., etc. No mention whatsoever of his reprehensible, jerkoff comments about Charlie Kirk and the public backlash he received. In the end he - and the leftie media - will always blame Trump. Of course they would, because they wouldn't know a real jerkoff like this guy if he spat in their faces. Juss' sayin'...

The fundraiser for BRM really helped.  Well done, people.

And yeah, antifa is threatening more people.  No surprise.  You'd think being declared a terrorist group might make them want to tone it down for a while, but it may just make them feel more free to do their thing.

You may have heard that when Pres. Trump got to the UN, the moment he and the wife stepped on the escalator it 'stopped working'.  And when he started to speak the teleprompter 'stopped working'.  Which turned out to be really dumb, because he just started speaking his mind, and I'd bet the UN hated every word.
That meant instead of delivering a 15-minute politely written speech, they liberated Trump to give a nearly hourlong toasting and roasting of the United Nations. There is no better extemporaneous speaker. 

 Thus, Trump gets 55 minutes of speaking, everyone else gets 15. 

 His speech was as golden as his hair. 

Nick Sortor tweeted: One of the most LEGENDARY lines from President Trump’s speech at the UN. “I ended 7 wars without help from the UN, which never even called. What is the purpose of the UN? They just write empty letters. Empty words do not resolve wars. These are the two things I got from the United Nations: a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter. Thank you very much.”

Oh yes, there was a lot more.

Oh, the left will really hate her now

The well-built girl shoots

Looks like when this President said '60 days', they really should've listened

 

 I'm sure the left will be pitching fits,  and calling Hegseth more names.  Because actually taking out an enemy who's threatened and attacked us for years will truly upset them.

A bit of news before the day really starts

Starting with what caused that odd screaming sound from the direction of DC:

Another "You can't do that" to a federal agency; it's wonderful



The brass on the seventh floor at FBI headquarters in Washington have been in a daze and wary of a housecleaning since Donald Trump was reelected president on Tuesday, inside sources say.

The Washington Times learned through several anonymous bureau sources that senior agency executives were “stunned” and “shell-shocked” by Mr. Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.

“You know the fit test? How they let the standards slack on the fit test?” said the first FBI source, referring to the agency’s physical fitness requirements. “Everyone’s going to have a real problem when they’re running for the door.”
I hope they're having heart palpitations.  The crap they've been caught at, they should be with someone who wants to deal with them coming into the Oval Office.  Personally, one of the first things Trump does should be to do said dealing with them.  Can't do anything about the shredders some of the are probably burning out, unfortunately.


There was a FEMA clown who specifically directed personnel in NC to not talk to people with Trump signs on their houses/yards.  Some whistleblowers made enough noise they couldn't just cover it up, and she was fired.  Now,
'FEMA preaches avoidance first, and then de-escalation. This is not isolated. This is a colossal event of avoidance,' Washington said in an interview with YouTube podcaster Roland Martin.

'Not just in the state of Florida. You will find avoidance in the Carolinas,' she revealed.

She says she was directly following FEMA protocol when she issued the controversial directive.
There's an amount of 'those people come out guns blazing' ass-covering in this, of course.  It'll be interesting what the investigations turn up about FEMA protocol.  Including the question someone asked: If it's her, maybe a couple of other clowns alone, why did they think they could get away with this?  Three guesses, you only need one.


This does seem to cover it

And this will cause further screaming, from all over and not just DC:  Trump appointed Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to run a Dept. of Government Efficiency.
Yes, I know, creating a new department doesn't sound good.  If it can stick to "We're getting rid of this and this and that whole bunch over there", I can get behind it.


And one more "Let's cause a lot of pain and wailing":

Incredible news: President @realDonaldTrump planning to tax excessively large private university endowments (which have benefited greatly from taxpayer $) to establish American Academy, a free online university for all. Purely academic.
Let's see, Harvard has something like forty billion in their, a fair number of others with multiple billions... I like it for the pure shock value, if nothing else.

See you later.

Had a bit of time to look around the other day, and a few things I'll throw out

More 'Our media is shit'

And how do they frame this clown getting her ass handed to her?

FEMA is run by idiots, Part the Whatever

A serious opinion on how lots of the .gov has forgotten a very important thing about disaster work


Mexican media all in for Harris

And, as a palate cleanser, things that work: they caught the booster stage


Damn.  Sometimes the future is really not stupid.

More when have the time, see you when I can

Under the heading of 'The Way It Should Be Done',

 

'Gators need to eat, too

Oh, NOW we know where Mayor Pete is and what he's doing:

He's fucking people over.
NEW - Federal Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has shut down aid flights into Western North Carolina. A NOTAM has been issued by the FAA that won’t allow anyone not approved by the state to fly aid missions. They said they would give permission but they’re not being cooperative at all. At least six m pilots from Virginia are being prevented from getting their aid shipments into Asheville Regional Airport.


Compare to de Santis in Florida:
#BREAKING: DeSantis says Florida National Guard is being deployed to ports impacted by ongoing strike to maintain order and, if possible, resume operations "Florida is open - we want to use our resources to get this stuff to the market."
I wonder what the rules of engagement are if anybody tries to interfere?