“Elon Musk says he won’t take coronavirus vaccine, calls Bill Gates a ‘knucklehead’” (New York Post) would warm the heart of any Swedish MD/PhD:
SpaceX founder Elon Musk stirred the pot yet again after claiming that neither he nor his family would take a COVID-19 vaccine even if it was readily available.
During the bizarre exchange, the Tesla CEO decried the nationwide lockdown as a “no-win situation” that has “diminished my faith in humanity.” Musk previously called widespread quarantines “unethical” and “de facto house arrest,” RT reports.
Instead of the current sweeping measures, the Boring Company boss suggested a more targeted lockdown where “anyone who is at risk” be “quarantined until the storm passes.”
Swisher criticized his suggestion, adding that humans could potentially die in the process.
“Everybody dies,” quipped Musk.
When you add the above to Dog Mode, it might be time for us to break down and buy a Tesla (a financially irrational decision in Maskachusetts where electricity per mile in a Tesla actually costs more than gasoline per mile in a Camry or Accord).
Related:
- “Vilified Early Over Lax Virus Strategy, Sweden Seems to Have Scourge Controlled” (NYT, yesterday). Interesting for the language of the headline (it is Swedish humans who have “controlled” the virus; it could not be the case that the virus was in charge and ran out of hosts) and also for a photo that is obscene by American standards (high school students in a classroom without masks or distancing)
Bill Gates is a Knucklehead, Elon Musk won’t get a vaccine shot, the New York Times stops kicking Sweden, and Philip Greenspun is going to break down and buy a Tesla. Armageddon is here. I don’t think a Tesla is a terrible choice, I have a relative who ones one, likes it lots. Just not for me.
In Northern California, my latest home electricity bill included 38 cents per kilowatt hour for marginal electricity. Gotta love our local power company, PG&E, who when they aren’t gouging us for electricity, are creating fires and turning off the power to NorCal households when it’s hot.
Oh, and I forgot the frequent emails where they scold me for using too much electricity in my small place. Sheesh!
The reason was “I’m not at risk, neither are my kids.” His girlfriend definitely isn’t at risk. There are a lot of shortages these days, with quantitative easing & decreased production, so not taking a vaccine if you don’t need it is a prudent decision. Of course, there is no vaccine so it’s a pointless dialog.
a financially irrational decision in Maskachusetts where electricity per mile in a Tesla actually costs more than gasoline per mile in a Camry or Accord
Really? Here in the Bay Area, with our fine gasolines even the “regular” varietal runs $4/gal. You must have cheaper gas or pricier electrons.
Gasoline here is $2/gallon. We are at about 21 cents/kWh (compared to 20 in CA) according to https://www.electricchoice.com/electricity-prices-by-state/
I don’t know if it’s still true, but in California, at one point, getting an electric car did crazy things to your marginal rate. (There’s a graduated rate based on what you “should” be using, getting pretty punitive for heavy users) People with $3-400/month electricity bills were leasing small electric cars for ~$99 a month and their rates went down too ~$0.13/kwh, with the delta more than covering the cost of the lease.
supermike: I covered this!
https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2020/02/16/middle-class-californians-pay-for-all-tesla-owners-electricity/
https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2019/02/01/middle-class-californians-subsidize-wealthy-tesla-owners-2019-edition/
https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2015/11/19/how-to-get-a-free-car-lease-an-electric-car-but-sadly-not-a-tesla/
That is one of the great things about the U.S. The folks who yelp loudest about inequality also like to have their poorest neighbors work to pay for the shiny new electric cars driven by themselves and their richest friends.