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Is throwing up "1 million satellites" going to do those things? How about running DOGE and gutting USAID? Or helping Trump get elected? Was that a worthy ende
by throw0101a 7mo ago
Is throwing up "1 million satellites" going to do those things?
How about running DOGE and gutting USAID?
Or helping Trump get elected? Was that a worthy endeavour? How's that working out for the average American (or anyone else on the planet) with four dollar gas and five dollar diesel?
- nailer 7mo ago[flagged]
- lostlogin 7mo ago> Bringing satellite coverage to world, including Iran and Ukraine is noble, yes. Are we including cutting off Ukraine’s coverage at keys times? Or Russian usage? No need to discuss the DOGE bit, no one believes that trillion dollar saving was real. ‘Musk the Noble’ sure has a smell to it.
- nailer 7mo ago> cutting off Ukraine’s coverage at keys times? The only 'key times' were Ukrainian military usage of Starlink inside Russia. Ukraine was given Starlink to use to defend Ukraine, not attack Russia. > Or Russian usage? Which was explicitly identified and cut off. > No need to discuss the DOGE bit Exactly. Nobody can defend fraud and abuse. Since your main issue is that the savings weren't as big as expected it sounds like you know that.
- lostlogin 7mo ago> The only 'key times' were Ukrainian military usage of Starlink inside Russia. Ukraine was given Starlink to use to defend Ukraine, not attack Russia. Fighting without hurting the enemy? What’s the point? The approach of the Trump administration is just letting Ukraine bleed out. Russian starlink usage has only just been cut off, how many years did that take? > Nobody can defend fraud and abuse This administration is anti-fraud and anti-abuse?
- nailer 7mo ago> Fighting without hurting the enemy? No. Nobody said that except you. > What’s the point? Getting Russia out of the Ukraine. > Russian starlink usage has only just been cut off No. Russians have tried to use Starlink in late 2023 early 2024, there were no direct or indirect sales and terminals were disabled on a blacklist basis. They moved from a blacklist to a whitelist in February this year. > This administration is anti-fraud and anti-abuse In some ways, yes. I won't defend "Trump coin" but it's pretty clear with things like USAID, Minnesota child care center scams, and the California hospice scam the democrats were in favour of and participated in fraud and abuse.
- nailer 7mo ago> the Ukraine. Correcting self: Ukraine.
- throw0101a 7mo ago> Bringing satellite coverage to the world, including Iran and Ukraine is noble, yes. The general "world" is getting connectivity just fine via mobile phones for a lot less than what it would cost them to get a Starlink system. Useful for the war in Ukraine, not so useful in Iran: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Internet_blackout_in_Iran#Circumvention https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Internet_blackout_in_Iran... > As is volunteering to help get rid of waste and fraud, particularly when his time could be spent on more lucrative pursuits. When did he do this? Are you referring to (LOL) DOGE? Nothing like raising unemployment without saving any money: * https://www.cato.org/blog/doge-produced-largest-peacetime-workforce-cut-record-spending-kept-rising-0 https://www.cato.org/blog/doge-produced-largest-peacetime-wo... * https://fordschool.umich.edu/news/2025/reality-doges-mediocre-savings-stevenson https://fordschool.umich.edu/news/2025/reality-doges-mediocr... And let's not start on all the illegal actions: * https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/10/elon-musk-doge-agency-illegal https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/10/elon-musk-do... Those (supposed) efficiency cuts in (e.g.) USAID have been estimated to have caused many tens of thousands of deaths: * https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(25)01186-9/fulltext https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(25)01186-9/full... * https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hundreds-of-thousands-of-deaths/ https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hund... And how much of the (alleged) money that was saved is now going towards the Iran war? The Pentagon is asking for $200B: * https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2026/3/25/congress-lacks-clarity-on-pentagons-200-billion-iran-war-request https://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2026/3/25/c... > There are more things to life than the price of gas. That is a very privileged view. In the US specifically, with its abysmal public transportation due to car-centric {ex,sub}urban design, a lot of people will need to pay more for getting to work and will have to cut back on (e.g.) groceries. Globally, oil prices are wreaking havoc in all sorts of ways on daily life: > Worsening fuel shortages resulting from the war in the Middle East are threatening sacred funeral ceremonies in Thailand, where Buddhist temples are scrambling to obtain diesel for cremations. > The abbot of Wat Saman Rattanaram in Chachoengsao province, about 80km (50 miles) east of Bangkok, warned that a suspension of cremation services was a real possibility. Some petrol stations have run out of fuel, while others allow sales only to vehicle operators. * https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3346921/even-dead-thailand-cannot-escape-iran-war-fuel-shortages https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/334692...