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Post by celawson on Jul 6, 2018 14:02:24 GMT -5
I'm sure you've all heard by now of the Thai soccer team of boys ranging from age 11-15, and their 25 yo coach, who are trapped in a cave on the coast of Thailand. It's an incredible story, and one I admit makes me claustrophobic just thinking about, and I just hope and pray it turns out ok for them. However, I just read this morning that a 38 yo former Thai Navy Seal died after delivering oxygen to the boys. He ran out of his own oxygen on the way out, apparently. This is just awful. The way in takes 6 hours of SCUBA through some areas so tight only one person can squeeze through at a time. And something like 5 hours to SCUBA out. And now there's apparently an issue with the oxygen in the cave. fAnd even the option of staying in the cave until OCTOBER (!!) is prob not viable. They are so far in (over a mile) and so far down (0.6 mile). It's looking worse and worse. www.cnn.com/2018/07/05/asia/thai-cave-diver-intl/index.htmlI can't quite wrap my head around the logistics (how they got so far in and so far down), nor why they can't take the same route out that they took in (it's hard to believe they crawled through tiny tunnels one at a time, but maybe they had no other choice). Elon Musk is sending a team of engineers from Space X (I was there the other day at the supercharger with my husband to charge his car - it's amazing BTW), to see if they can help.
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Post by robeiae on Jul 6, 2018 16:29:39 GMT -5
The passages that they initially followed became completely flooded with water. They walked easily through the caves when they were clear, even if it was only one at a time. But a passageway one can walk through cannot be so easily traversed when swimming in a complete diving suit.
Also, I believe the rising water levels forced them deeper into the cave system; they didn't intend to go as far as they did.
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Post by celawson on Jul 7, 2018 18:24:24 GMT -5
Thanks, Rob. Sorry I didn't reply earlier, we're in Hawaii so now I'm SIX hours behind most of you instead of 3, and we've been pretty busy. We've been here 2 days and it's rained (hard) the majority of the time. Nothing like looking forward to a beach vacation all year and then rain rain rain. Anyway, fascinating new developments with the cave and Elon Musk. His engineers have come up with a couple of novel ideas to get the boys out. He's Tweeting about it, and here's an article explaining: www.theverge.com/2018/7/7/17544452/elon-musk-spacex-thailand-cave-soccer-team-kid-sized-submarine-rescue
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Post by robeiae on Jul 16, 2018 9:28:00 GMT -5
So, Elon Musk doesn't much like it when people tell him his ideas aren't the best thing since sliced bread: www.npr.org/2018/07/16/629348178/elon-musk-and-british-diver-exchange-harsh-words-over-thai-cave-rescueLooks like "pedo guy" is thinking about suing Musk for that last remark (an accusation that he later said he was willing to bet on). I'm no expert on any of this, but my feeling from the beginning--when Musk became involved--was that it was a pointless distraction and that he should have kept his nose out of the whole thing.
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Post by Optimus on Jul 16, 2018 13:53:22 GMT -5
It was a stupid thing for him to tweet and he let his anger/frustration get the better of him. But...I honestly can't really blame the guy for getting so pissed off at all the haters lately. He goes from being likened to a real-life Tony Stark in the press, to having the press turn on him on a dime like a hungry pack of rabid wolves, comparing him to Trump, claiming he is dangerous and "gaslighting" the world (they love to misuse that word), falsely insinuating he was being anti-semitic, and then unleashing several hit-pieces against him, including one shit-trolling "journalist" retaliating by unsuccessfully begging people on Twitter to report him for sexual harassment and, when that backfired, writing yet another hit piece whining about how sexist his fans are....all for half-jokingly (it seems) suggesting that the media needs to be held accountable for their partisan, activist bullshit (which further proves his assertion that the MSM is a joke made up mostly of whiny activists instead of actual journalists). Now, it seems no matter what he says, does, or tweets, he gets attacked for it. And, this isn't the first time he was attacked for the Thai submarine thing, which was falsely characterized as a solution "no one asked for," to which he had to respond by posting the emails exchanged between him and the actual person leading the rescue efforts, proving that he actually had been asked. Having said all of that, it was stupid for him to lash out in frustration like that and it might wind up costing him financially. It also plays into the narrative crafted by the activist trolls masquerading as journalists that he's some sort of idiotic, bigoted troglodyte. He probably needs to step away from Twitter for a while and hand it over to a PR person instead. There are more important things he arguably should be doing rather than engaging with trolls on Twitter.
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Post by celawson on Jul 16, 2018 13:53:52 GMT -5
After I read more about the route to the cave, it did seem an odd choice to build a sub. How would it fit through the tight spots and how to get it through the spots where you walk and are not able to swim? And yeah, it was probably embarrassing for Musk to be rejected so bluntly by that British diver (and not very nice of the guy to do so that bluntly), but then to call him a pedo? What? Why go there??? Oh, Elon
EDITED TO ADD: cross posted with Optimus - looks like some good links there, will take a look.
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Post by poetinahat on Jul 17, 2018 20:22:09 GMT -5
Twitter is the new tobacco. Everyone knows it will kill them, but they keep on lighting up, one after the other, under the delusion that it somehow makes them look cool.
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Post by Optimus on Jul 18, 2018 1:29:50 GMT -5
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Post by robeiae on Jul 18, 2018 6:11:33 GMT -5
Meh, that piece reads pretty fan-boyish to me. For instance:
The writer's conclusion fails to account for simple diplomacy (can we blame Trump?): the Thai governor was--rightly--being diplomatic as a matter of course, because that's the smart and easy play.
Doesn't change the reality of Musk catching some over-the-top and unfair criticism, to be sure, but that doesn't mean Musk wasn't partly motivated by PR, and it sure as hell doesn't mitigate the pedophile accusation.
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Post by Optimus on Jul 18, 2018 13:32:28 GMT -5
Well, I felt it gave a good timeline of what prompted Musk to get involved and how people reacted. I didn't pay as much attention to the gushing. And I already stated that his reaction was stupid and he needed to step away from Twitter.
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Post by poetinahat on Jul 18, 2018 19:55:30 GMT -5
Question for Musk: If it isn't all about PR, then when's the last time he was in Puerto Rico?
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Post by Optimus on Jul 18, 2018 22:57:47 GMT -5
To be fair, rebuilding an entire, decimated US territory isn't even close to being on the same scale of problem as building a tiny sub that will fit in a cave. That should also be the government's job, so fingers should still be pointing at Trump and DC, not Musk or any other private citizen. And I still think Trump's non-response and entire attitude to that situation is grotesque, appalling, and is further proof of what a garbage human he is. As for Musk, given that the majority of his time is rightly devoted to helping run 3 major companies, perhaps he'll get to Puerto Rico after he's done trying to help fix the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Seriously, though, we might need more wealthy philanthropists to step in right now for certain things as it seems our own government is unwilling to help. Hopefully, if they stay busy helping people, it will also keep them off of Twitter, thus preventing them from making asses of themselves.
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Post by poetinahat on Jul 19, 2018 1:15:01 GMT -5
Oh, I agree on all points. Just saying that, while it's nice that he chose to jump in for the Thai kids - and take on the challenge of the State of South Australia's power supply, delivering in 100 days to win a $50 million bet - it would seem like a natural win-win to deal with Puerto Rico's power supply problem, now ten months old and a long way from over. Why is Puerto Rico so overlooked? It's virtually an American state. There used to be a US naval base there; I know, because that's where I was born.
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Post by robeiae on Sept 5, 2018 8:53:44 GMT -5
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Post by robeiae on Sept 5, 2018 8:57:54 GMT -5
And this is both brilliant and funny as hell,imo:
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