Summary
The FAA is reportedly set to cancel a $2.4 billion contract with Verizon to modernize air traffic control communications and instead award it to Elon Musk’s Starlink.
Musk has publicly criticized Verizon’s system as failing, though without evidence. SpaceX employees have been embedded within the FAA, and some now have agency email addresses.
The move raises concerns about favoritism and conflicts of interest, especially as Musk’s companies have received $38 billion in government funding.
The contract transfer has not followed standard procedures, prompting resistance from senior FAA officials.
Hmm, convenient.
I’m about to start demanding hazard pay from work when they need me to travel.
I hope Verizon sues Musk, Starlink, and the DOGE into oblivion. Even if they don’t have a chance of winning, they should be able to make it more difficult to do anything. Airlines should sue too due to the preventable crashes that occurred recently. In fact, I hope every company affected by DOGE’s policies sues.
They might not be able to get a fair trial, but they could potentially bog the system down in red tape.
Give ‘em Hell!
Hoisted by their own petard, it seems. I’m with you. I hope they fight, but they also helped create this situation (like many corporations).
https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/verizon-communications/summary?id=D000000079
I don’t doubt it at all, but as the passage goes, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend”. Or as I like to say: baby steps.
Yeah, triangular politics. I’m on board. I regret that getting into this discussion any further will require reading from the works of Kissinger. Maybe this time we can fix the problem without bombing a fourth party like Cambodia. Who knows. All bets are of at this point.
Nah, the enemy of my enemy is the enemy of my enemy, nothing more, nothing less.
But as a great man once said, “Let them fight.”
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Sadly you’re probably spot on. 😞
“This is your captain speaking. I’m afraid we’re going to be a little bit delayed here because we’ve lost connection to the Starlink satellites that provide our communication. We’ll be pushing back from the gate just as soon as the weather clears a bit.”
“We’ll be cleared to land just as soon as our check clears.”
Musk is a walking ethics violation.
Today thousands of planes lost critical communications while in the US airspace after a SpaceX test flight exploded in low earth orbit. The explosion destroyed a significant portion of the Starlink satellite constellation, and international space tracking organizations are monitoring the situation closely. They are reporting a Kessler Syndrome cascade has not been ruled out.
Musk doesn’t care anymore if he tanks Tesla, as long as he’s getting government handouts.
Tesla’s shareholders might though.
Then don’t be a Tesla shareholder, fucking duh. Sell that shit, fuck this guy.
I’d have to buy shares before I could sell them.
So no need to worry then
What if my shares lose value then?
Just buy the dip
Short Tesla, got it.
Good. Then the shareholders can sue and make things more difficult for everyone involved.
He doesn’t need the shares to be sky high if he can get the board to give him his giant payout.
Tesla’s law firm drafts Delaware bill that could salvage Musk pay package
The proposed legislation, drafted by Richards, Layton & Finger, or RLF, would amend Delaware General Corporation Law, and if adopted, could pave the way for the reinstatement of Musk’s 2018 CEO pay package at Tesla, worth tens of billions of dollars in options.
I’m sure that will end well.
I would sure love to see the proof that “FAA assessment is single digit months to catastrophic failure, putting air traveler safety at serious risk.” from a wholly independent authority.
A note written on a paper napkin won’t do.
Oh, that seems fine. Just removing a 15 year, 2+ Billion dollar contract Verizon just won in 2023, with a no-bid contract from the guy in the officially unofficial roll of gutting the US government.
Drain the swamp! /s
This is NOT at all Corruption and in fact the United States Of American has NO Corruption at all and is the CLEANEST country in the World.
This is handing the button that controls your life over to elon… He had them strategically turn off Ukraine’s internet at a critical moment to benefit putin… What do you think he’s going to do when Jasmine Crockett’s plane in on final approach to land back in her district after having the “fuck off, elon” press conference?
I’d say it’s a good thing we have antitrust laws, but we all know how much laws mean to the group of mobsters currently in control.
Gross
Very gross, in fact
We call this a conflict of interest. Fuck Musk. Guess whose planes will never show up in flight logs so he, Trump, and all of Putin’s other stooges can fly around and make deals with no bother.
I bet this is definitely a contributing factor to his actions. Hard to fly a drone into his engine if you don’t know which plane is his…
If the US does not accurately report flights, then the only solution is to cut it off from all international air travel. Any planes that would leave the US air space should be immediately forced to land or turn around by military aircraft in whichever airspace they enter.
Sold all my Rocket Lab shares last week because of shit like this.
