Radiorum

The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan), and CSA (Canada). As the largest space station ever constructed, it primarily serves as a platform for conducting scientific experiments in microgravity and studying the space environment As of 24 October 2024, 281 people representing 23 countries had visited the space station, many of them multiple times. The United States has sent 167 people, Russia has 61, Japan has sent 11, Canada has sent nine, Italy has sent six, France and Germany have each sent four, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates have each sent two, and there has been one person from Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Israel, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom As of February 2025, nasa.gov states that there are 43 different modules and elements installed on the ISS. https://www.nasa.gov/international-space-station/international-space-station-assembly-elements/ Musk wants to shut it all down in favour of a contract for him to go to Mars. (reminds me of SpaceX pushing out Verizon for the FAA contract)

They are burning it all down. There’s no rationality here, only a bent to destruction. They see the government as the enemy, the very government they are supposed to be administering. The government will no longer serve.

Anyone who says this is about waste and fraud is living in la-la land. This is Trump taking revenge on the US. Social Security Administration leadership is under instruction to swiftly produce plans to cut its staff by half, according to two employees at the agency who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. And an office within the Labor Department that enforces equal employment opportunity laws is developing a plan to reduce its workforce by 90 percent, an internal document shows. DOGE barrels toward a fresh round of firings, the most widespread yet

Yes, it's true, as corrupt and cruel as it sounds. The US House of Representatives passed a budget resolution (H Con Res 14, 119th Congress) that includes deep cuts to Medicaid, advancing the Republican-led plan in a 217-215 vote The budget resolution proposes $880 billion in Medicaid cuts over a decade, affecting nearly 80 million Americans. The resolution is part of a GOP plan to enact $4.5 trillion in tax cuts while addressing the national debt limit. https://www.ajmc.com/view/house-passes-budget-resolution-cutting-billions-from-medicaid-funding One of the most controversial provisions allows states to impose work requirements for Medicaid beneficiaries, a move that could eliminate coverage for millions. (Maybe they are going to bring back workhouses. They seem pretty Dickensian)

They were working for him and getting their instructions from him. The examples are in the news everyday. This is one of the stupidest things you've ever said. They gave up their livelihoods - their paycheck - for principle, something I don't think you understand.

God, do you read at all? They resigned from DOGE. Oh, you mean, they weren't in the cult, like you? Their concerns are legitimate.

And even as Musk slashes the FAA workforce, his SpaceX secures a $2 billion dollar contract with the FAA/government.

Oh, please. Musk is an even bigger liar and propagandist than Trump. Blatant lies. Look, everyone is turning against Musk. Even his own team - 21 technology staffers - resigned on him Here's what they said in their resignation letter: "We swore to serve the American people and uphold our oath to the Constitution across presidential administrations," the 21 staffers wrote in a joint resignation letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. "However, it has become clear that we can no longer honour those commitments." "We will not use our skills as technologists to compromise core government systems, jeopardize Americans' sensitive data, or dismantle critical public services," they wrote.

Around the world, democracy is regressing rather than progressing. The global average dropped to a new record low of 5.17, down from a high of 5.55 in 2015. Just 6.6% of the world’s population now lives in a full democracy, down from 12.5% ten years ago. And a large share of the world’s population—currently two in five people—lives under authoritarian rule.

The global democracy index: how did countries perform in 2024? Since 2006 EIU has scored 167 countries and territories on a scale of zero to ten based on five criteria: electoral process and pluralism, functioning of government, political participation, political culture, and civil liberties. The countries are then grouped into four categories: full democracies (>8), flawed democracies (6-8), hybrid regimes (4-6) and authoritarian regimes (<4). This year, nine of the top ten countries are in Europe, including at the top Norway (9.81) and in 3rd place, Sweden (9.4) In second place is New Zealand (9.6). Canada (8.7), Australia (8.8) and the UK (8.3) are also categorized as full democracies. The US (7.8) is a flawed democracy. Authoritarian countries include Russia (2.0) and the country with the lowest ranking, Afghanistan (0.25). Be interesting to see how the US does next year, what with Trump challenging the political independence of the civil service and implementing all those executive orders of questionable legal authority. https://www.economist.com/interactive/democracy-index-2024?utm_campaign=r.the-economist-today&utm_medium=email.internal-newsletter.np&utm_source=salesforce-marketing-cloud&utm_term=2/26/2025&utm_id=2064789

Lol, you post all the time without having a point. And my point is that there is a good chunk of the world that sees Musk for what he is.

At a London, England bus stop

Oh, man, this is pitiable. No-one is buying your schtick anymore. It reeks of ignorance and desperation.

Helping others. Who do you think Trump is helping?

Well, up to now, it's been rule by the law. that is changing.

It seems Navarro has walked back his comments As U.S. President Donald Trump threatens tariffs and pushes for Canada to become the 51st state, his trade adviser Peter Navarro is rebuffing a report that says he is proposing Canada be pushed out of the Five Eyes alliance. “That was just crazy stuff. We would never, ever jeopardize our national security ever with allies like Canada. Ever,” Navarro said to reporters in Washington, D.C. But, we know that the US is looking for pressure points on Canada

Information has been provided to you, but yes, I’ve realized that you have an antagonistic relationship with knowledge and information. You remind me of the talking Barbie they put out many years ago who said, “Math is hard!” Trump is counting on opinions like yours, that cannot tell right from wrong. Our hope lies in enough people doing what is right.

Reducing this to a contest between Biden and Trump is a very narrow-minded way to approach what is going on. This has nothing to do with Biden. The US has elected a president that threatens everything the US stands for.

When people raise valid points about the issues, I respond. I can't help it if so much coming from MAGA is irrelevant, stupid and desperate. Anyone approaching the discussion in good faith, and with a brain, knows my arguments are good.

I'll let these posts stand on their own as testament to the inability to make any reasonable or intelligent counterpoints to the points raised about patrimonialism in the OP. It is somewhat amazing that anyone can be so blind, to witness what Trump and Musk are doing, and think it is about these things.

Kennedy has amplified baseless claims suggesting a link between antidepressants like Prozac and school shootings. “Prior to the introduction of Prozac, we had almost none of these events,” he told billionaire Elon Musk last year. But research shows that most school shooters were not previously treated with psychotropic medications — and even when they were, there was no association between those drugs and the shootings. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/rfk-jr-health-stances-vaccines-fluoride-raw-milk-rcna180244

Yes, research and investigation is a good thing. But for the top Health guy in the US to make the claim without evidence is irresponsible.

Trump is installing what scholars call patrimonialism. His mass firings, defiance of laws, disregarding the plain language of statues, court rulings, and the Constitution, antagonizing allies, incursion into the arts (naming himself the chair of the Kennedy Centre) all support this idea. As he installs patrimonialism, Trump sees the state as “little more than (his) extended household” … the state does “not exist as a separate entity.” Rather, he is running it as if it were his personal property or family business. When he declares “He who saves the Country does not violate any Law.” – he is claiming to be the symbolic father of the people - or according to Tucker Carlson “Daddy” (who should give the country a vigorous spanking) – the state’s personification and protector – a hallmark of patrimonialism. Patrimonialism infects government by replacing impersonal, formal lines of authority with personalized, informal ones, like announcing out of nowhere the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico, or a U.S. occupation of Gaza, or having your number-two man (an unelected billionaire) send out an email to thousands of federal employees asking them what they did last week and a failure to respond would be taken as a resignation. Patrimonialism may transition to full-blown authoritarianism. “…as patrimonialism snips the government’s procedural tendons, it weakens and eventually cripples the state … Electoral processes and constitutional norms cannot survive long when patrimonial legitimacy begins to dominate the political arena…” Patrimonialism is based on individual loyalty and connections, on rewarding friends and punishing enemies. As one prominent Republican said of Trump, “If you’re his friend, he’s your friend. If you’re not his friend, he’s not your friend.” The main ruling principle of patrimonialism is: “Stay on the ruler’s good side, or else.” Trump is even spearheading a purge of prosecutors who investigated January 6 for no other reason than they did their job. Trump is patrimonialism’s “perfect organism.” He recognizes no distinction between what is public and private, legal and illegal, formal and informal, national and personal. “He can’t tell the difference between his own personal interest and the national interest, if he even understands what the national interest is,” John Bolton, who served as national security adviser in Trump’s first term, told The Bulwark. The question now is: How long will the American people allow Trump to run the country according to his arbitrary whims, for no other reason than to exploit it for his own political, personal and financial gain?

If you have any evidence of a causal link between SSRIs and violence, I invite you to share it. Also - to note - violence directed outward towards other people requires a different psychology than violence directed inward towards oneself.

This analogy to what Trump is doing is not only fiction, it is ridiculous fiction Lol, oh well, if Ted Cruz, who has completely sold his soul to Trump, said it, it must be true! /s