Open Thread

What’s on your mind?

Comments

[Mr. Bumble]

Three Dog Night founding member and lead singer Chuck Negron has died at the age of 83 at his home in Studio City, California, after battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for months.

[Frank Drackman]

Wow, if he hadn't smoked he might have lived to 84 or 85

[Malika la Maize]

That leaves only Hutton from the founding members. One is the loneliest number…

[Martinned]

Someone on my socials:

The funny part of #SpaceX buying #xAI and by that X: what do you think happens to the basis for calculating fines under #GDPR and #DSA?

Speaking of which, some US Congresscritters put the Commission's DSA decision on Twitter online: https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/2026-01/ACT_part1.pdf

(I am told it's not yet checked for confidentiality, but all the confidential information about Twitter seems to be redacted.)

You will notice that in par. 642, in the section on penalty calculation, the Commission is already taking into account "the single economic unit ultimately controlled by Mr. Elon Musk".

[Mr. Bumble]

,,,and your point is???

[Martinned]

That SpaceX buying xAI may or may not result in a massive increase in the maximum fines Musk can get in Europe. (Of course, the answer might vary between different laws.)

[Martinned]

(Of course consolidation within the Musk empire also reduces the scope for conflicts of interest, which have historically been quite common. So from a legal risk perspective, it seems like it's probably a good idea. But the assessment of this tradeoff is a question on which reasonable people can disagree.)

[Brett Bellmore]

So, larger fines for him to not pay with the backing of the US government? Scary!

[Martinned]

He's welcome to try and not pay any fines, but that strikes me as a poor business decision. Of course, it wouldn't be the first, so he may well go down that route...

[Brett Bellmore]

It's a less poor decision with Washington backing him than it would be otherwise, that's for sure.

[Brett Bellmore]

Seriously, maybe the EU should consult with China on how to build a "Great Firewall" of their own, instead of demanding that foreign companies dance to their tune.

[Sarcastr0]

LOL see us and Huawei.

Europe's regulation of foreign companies is different than us, but in degree not in kind.

[Brett Bellmore]

Huawei is hardware, not software. We're prohibiting products with built in backdoors as a matter of national security. If the EU were fining Musk over X including a keylogger and rooting devices it's used on, I'd be highly sympathetic.

They're not. They're fining Musk over X not complying with their censorship laws.

So, yeah, different in kind.

So, I'll stand by my position: If the EU wants to censor the internet for people who live in the EU, they should build a "great firewall" like China did, and do the freaking censorship themselves. Not demand that foreign companies do their dirty work for them.

[Martinned]

Speaking of Twitter:

Paris prosecutors raid France offices of Elon Musk's X
(...)
In its statement, the prosecutors office said the operation formed part of efforts to ensure X complied with French laws.

It said the probe, led by French cyber-crime police, was expanded in July 2025 after reports of sexually explicit deepfakes and holocaust denial content circulating on the platform.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce3ex92557jo

[Sarcastr0]

"This marks not just the next chapter, but the next book in SpaceX and xAI's mission: scaling to make a sentient sun to understand the Universe."

-Musk.

This is not a merger that makes sense from a functional perspective.
xAI is where all the twitter purchase debt went, and SpaceX is Musk's only still working company. So there is that.

[odealbert]

service de rédaction académique , nous sommes une agence spécialisée

aide redaction , vous aide à réussir

[Martinned]

OK, so the Tunney Act case related to the HPE/Juniper merger isn't completely dead letter:

A California judge reviewing the settlement in which the US Department of Justice cleared the $14 billion Hewlett Packard Enterprise–Juniper Networks merger has allowed intervenor US states to depose and seek documents from lobbyists hired by the companies.
(...)
[Judge] Pitts allowed the states to move forward to the extent they seek information, testimony and documents about David, Levi and Schwartz and their outward conduct or actions on behalf of HPE. This includes communications with the government or with others, the judge said.

[Martinned]

Today in Trump SLAPP lawsuits:

Donald Trump announced he will be seeking $1bn (£730m) in damages from Harvard University in his administration's ongoing feud with the institution.

The news comes after the New York Times reported that the US president's administration had to backtrack from its demand for a $200m payment in negotiations with the university.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crkryely657o

[Commenter_XY]

Seems like a very lengthy proce$$ for Harvard. A pity.

[Commenter_XY]

Peggy Siegal....a very sick woman named in the Epstein files. She should be shunned.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15520115/Hollywood-publicist-offered-bring-Jeffrey-Epstein-baby-Africa.html

[Frank Drackman]

Can't we just talk about her behind her back? Or not invite her to Michelle's party?? You should try getting a life, it's not so bad.

[LexAquilia]

Can't have the goy pushing back, now can you, Epstein?

[not guilty]

LexAquilia yesterday:

"Even if there was proof, ain't know way this sista gonna do anything to my brotha, wes gots some democracy to save"

-- Democrat Judge Sutton

Once again, Lex, never mind your enclosing jive talk which was never written or spoken within quotation marks -- what is your factual basis for labeling Judge Jeffrey Sutton -- a Bush II appointed culture warrior -- as a Democrat? Or as "this sista?"

[David Nieporent]

Why should she be shunned? Given that there's not the slightest shred of evidence that Epstein had any sexual interest in young children, why would one who wasn't obsessed with imaginary pedophiles take her comment as anything other than a straightforward reference to adoption (like, you know, Madonna, who she mentioned)?

[Dr. Ed 2]

One of the more interesting aspects of the Epstein files is a renewal of the accusations that Janet Mills liked cocaine.

[Malika la Maize]

The National Institutes of Health employee behind The Bethesda Declaration, a scathing public critique of the Trump administration’s cuts to biomedical research, sought federal whistle-blower protections on Monday, saying her superiors had retaliated against her by putting her on “nondisciplinary administrative leave.”

The employee, Jenna Norton, a program director at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, was put on paid leave after the 43-day government shutdown ended in November. The complaint asks for “appropriate compensatory damages,” and for Dr. Norton to be reinstated.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/us/politics/nih-worker-trump-whistle-blower-protection.html

[Malika la Maize]

Four days before Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, lieutenants to an Abu Dhabi royal secretly signed a deal with the Trump family to purchase a 49% stake in their fledgling cryptocurrency venture for half a billion dollars, according to company documents and people familiar with the matter. The buyers would pay half up front, steering $187 million to Trump family entities.

The deal with World Liberty Financial, which hasn’t previously been reported, was signed by Eric Trump, the president’s son. At least $31 million was also slated to flow to entities affiliated with the family of Steve Witkoff, a World Liberty co-founder who weeks earlier had been named U.S. envoy to the Middle East, the documents said.

The investment was backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, an Abu Dhabi royal who has been pushing the U.S. for access to tightly guarded artificial intelligence chips, according to people familiar with the matter. Tahnoon—sometimes referred to as the “spy sheikh”—is brother to the United Arab Emirates’ president, the government’s national security adviser, as well as the leader of the oil-rich country’s largest wealth fund. He oversees a more than $1.3 trillion empire funded by his personal fortune and state money that spans from fish farms to AI to surveillance, making him one of the most powerful single investors in the world.

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/spy-sheikh-secret-stake-trump-crypto-tahnoon-ea4d97e8?st=PFh8gc&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

[Sarcastr0]

Immediately after a US border patrol agent shot two people in Oregon last month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the targets were “vicious” gang members connected to a prior shooting and alleged they had “attempted to run over” officers with their vehicle.

According to a DHS press release and social media posts issued the following day, border patrol agents were conducting a “targeted” stop of a vehicle in Portland occupied by two members of Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang. Yorlenys Zambrano-Contreras, a woman in the passenger seat, had been “involved” in a Portland shooting last year, the agency wrote.

︀︀Her involvement was that suspected gang members sexually assaulted and robbed her!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/02/portland-venezuelans-shot-border-patrol-court

ICE arrests people and lies about how bad they are in court. It is not a legitimate organization.

[Frank Drackman]

No Sarcasm or "Hidden Agenda"
but everyone please pray to whatever Surpreme Being you believe in (or if you don't believe in one, pretend to)
for the safe release of Nancy Guthrie.
And the swift and painful Execution of her Abductors (No Capital Punishment argument, I'm thinking of some of Marcell Wallace's guys)
My Surpreme Being is a vengeful Surpreme Being.

Frank