Ah, I had missed Trump accounts because they originally couldn't hold individual stocks according to how congress defined them in the legislation. I was not aware Trump and co were trying to do an end-run around the legislation by arguing that the law doesn't prohibit corporations from donating individual shares.

However, that's a pretty new development, is controversial, and its unclear how it would really work, especially in tandem with the other rules.

Its a little tricky too, as children generally don't have suitable investment accounts that can hold publicly traded shares. I'm doubtful they even legally can open those accounts.

So what are they going to do, issue a gazillion single paper share certificates? What a shitshow that would be, the fees and shipping alone around dealing with that for a single share would be nuts, not to mention the hassle of redeeming them, and the untold numbers that would be misplaced or destroyed. And I'm still not sure children can own them, or sign the agreements required to get them.

What else could the do? Create beneficial trusts for every child? Whose going to administer that? and again the fees and management expenses around it would be nuts all for a $150 space-x share?

It might be reasonable for him to set a bunch aside, and as children reach adulthood, let them claim them at that point.
If the idea is that the kid can't sell it or whatever until they're an adult anyway, its probably fine. It'll be income maybe when they receive it, so that could work out badly for some kids though, if they have to sell it to cover the taxes on it, because they don't have a job yet. Especially if its appreciated to a couple thousand or something. (How are splits etc handled, do they get one or more? Or worse... reverse splits on a single share?)

Trump doesn't need an excuse, he wants to be pals with Putin and he's desperate to fix his self-inflicted economic and oil problems before the mid-terms.

Have to admire Zelenskyy's moxie. "Oh, you want oil, do you?"

So basically create a permanent underclass of indentured servants...

Ditto. Sounds like I'll just need to dynamically avoid their restaurants...

When you boil it down, situational awareness is little more than our attempt to maintain a mental model of what's happening around us. And models can be wrong.

Do humans have eyes on the sides of their heads? In the back of their heads? Can they watch all directions simultaneously? No.

Can they instantaneously detect changes in speed and direction? No.

Can they react in microseconds? No.

No to all of that. In fact, numerous studies have shown that most people can only deal with about three events occurring at the same time. Throw one more into the mix and they start to lock up.

And "the fact that numerous people surrender all of that" is precisely the problem. People get distracted. They daydream. They drive on autopilot. They become impaired.They lose focus. They get old and slow down. They're not looking in the right direction when some event occurs. And even when they do they often make poor decisions. They overreact and they overcompensate.

And that's when 40,000 people a year die.

Pretty sure most Model 3's and Y's don't have odor detectors, and those are supposedly the vehicles owners would send out to make money why they sleep.

Tesla's numbers already indicate that it's better. (Then again, they're Tesla's numbers.) But my point remains, if they cut down the number of deaths, injuries, and fender-benders it's a net win.

What, if anything I posted was in defense of Elon? All of the above were facts. That's where the HQ is. That's where the engineers are. That's the Texas law.

Musk picked Austin for Tesla’s robotaxi trials and rollouts primarily because the city serves as the home base for Tesla's corporate headquarters, and it offers close proximity to company engineers and executives overseeing the project.

Also, Texas law does not permit individual cities to regulate or ban autonomous vehicles, so it's an AV friendly environment.

Finally, other autonomous vehicle networks, such as Waymo, had already established testing footprints in Austin.

So sorry, but I think your conspiracy theory is a bit short lived.... ;)

Not enough to make up for waking up in the morning to go to work, only to find out some drunk puked in your front seat.

Or the used condoms in the back.

That's one of the reasons I never understood the pushback against EVs in certain circles. Put a solar panel on your roof and you're now independent of the grid and gas stations.

I mean, it's a LOT harder to put an oil well and refinery in your backyard.

They are, for the most part, illegal. That doesn't seem to stop the deaths and injuries, now does it?

40,000 people a year. Year in, and year out.

3,000 people die in a WTC attack and we flip out.

Kill 40,000 men, woman, and kids each and every year... and we accept it as "normal".

I agree wholeheartedly that we should do everything possible to prioritize mass transit, walkability, and biking, and minimize car use.

But.

In the US we've spend the last century designing our cites around urban sprawl. Like it or not, that's where many of our homes are and where people live.

You're simply NOT going to solve sprawl, especially in western cities, with mass transit.

As such, some form of personal transportation must exist. And if so, then it benefits everyone to make it as efficient, and as clean, as possible.

Which doesn't mean that in an emergency that they can't shut down roads and highways to automotive traffic or stop and arrest offenders who're violating the law.

Not to mention that your ability to operate a motor vehicle is largely dependent on the state and deemed a privilege, not a right. (Sovereign citizens to the contrary.) It can be taken away.

Your version of "personal autonomy" is illusionary.