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Thursday, June 5, 2025

'Détente? Musk Hints At Path Forward On BBB, Will Not Decommission Dragon Spacecraft'

Update (2204ET):  The optics of what happened this week between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump are wild - with Musk standing up for MAGA ideals that Trump campaigned on, and Trump peddling a bill that came from the swamp. Musk's key issues are that it raises the debt ceiling another $5 trillion, while - and this part is in contention - the bill either raises the deficit by $2.4 trillion, or lowers it by $1.4 trillion - depending on who you believe. We note that it also makes little to no effort to actually do anything about the waste, fraud, or abuse found by DOGE. 

So, following a rollercoaster of a day (scroll down if you just emerged from a coma), on top of a rollercoaster week, Musk struck a different tone Thursday night on X after a long 12 hours which saw Trump threaten to pull federal funding from Musk's companies for opposing the BBB, which was met Musk calling his bluff and declaring he would decommission the SpaceX Dragon (the only operational US spacecraft capable of transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station), proposing a new political party "that actually represents the 80% in the middle," implying Trump is a pedophile, and endorsing Trump's impeachment. 

Now that the dust has settled, Musk appears to have struck somewhat of a conciliatory tone Thursday night - first posting that he would not in fact decommission Dragon. 

Good advice.

He also reposted several things on X hinting at a path forward if Republicans fix the bill. 

Musk also reposted Senator Rand Paul suggesting that he would vote for the BBB "if we got real spending cuts" instead of "the largest debt increase in US history." 

He also replied "You're not wrong" to Bill Ackman's suggestion that Trump and Musk "should make peace for the benefit of our great country." 

And then he made fun of himself.

In short, Trump and Republicans need to "Drop the tax cuts, cut some pork, and get the bill through" so it aligns with MAGA and DOGE priorities (what you were elected to do), kith and make up, and make sure JD doesn't have to spend Christmas at two houses this year. 

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Like a vendor at a ballgame parking lot, we sold a ton of these waxed canvas hats today amid the drama. Thank you for your support. 

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Update (1725ET): As the Trump-Musk feud continues to escalate, Musk endorsed the notion that 'Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him,' floated by Malaysian US political commentator Ian Miles Cheong.

Earlier...

Aaaand Musk just announced he'll begin decommissioning the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft 'immediately'

He also doubled down on the Epstein claim...

While Trump defenders such as Laura Loomer pushed back:

Trump, meanwhile, posted what could be considered somewhat of an attempt to de-escalate - that he 'doesn't mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago," adding "This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It's a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given."

Update (1615ET): Just as the spat between Elon Musk and President Trump seemed to have reached cruising altitude, Musk hit the afterburners - claiming on X that President Trump is "in the Epstein files," adding "That is the real reason they have not been made public...

Meanwhile, shares in TSLA are down 16% as the market cascades lower. Fun fact, Tesla was the most bought retail stock over the last week. 

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Update (1255ET): The tech-bro industrial complex has to be shitting themselves as the Trump-Musk spat just hit a new gear; Elon Musk is calling for a new political party, while Trump just threatened to pull Musk's contracts. 

Kevin Dietsch/Saul Loeb/AFP/GETTY

In a Thursday afternoon post to Truth Social, Trump said that Elon was "wearing thin," and that he "Asked him to leave." 

"I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!"

Trump then 'truthed' that "The easiest way to save money in our Budget, Billions and Billions of Dollars, is to terminate Elon’s Governmental Subsidies and Contracts. I was always surprised that Biden didn’t do it!"

"Such an obvious lie. So sad." Musk replied...

Before calling Trump's bluff...

And is calling for a new political party...

Which has an 84% 'yes' rating...

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Update (1255ET): Well that escalated quickly...

Elon Musk is now raging on X against President Trump, after Trump talked greasy to the press over Musk's opposition to the "Big Beautiful Bill" over the past several days. 

"Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," Musk wrote, adding "Such ingratitude." 

Meanwhile Tesla stock is down 9%...

And Palantir is down 5% as the tech bro darlings come under pressure... 

*  *  *

President Trump has weighed in after Elon Musk began publicly bashing the GOP's 'Big Beautiful Bill,' telling reporters on Thursday that he's 'very disappointed in Elon,' and that Musk only opposes the bill because they eliminated electric vehicle tax credits from it. 

"Elon is upset because we took the EV mandate which was a lot of money for electric vehicles. They're having a hard time the electric vehicles, and they want us to pay billions of dollars in subsidy. Elon knew this from the beginning," said Trump. 

Trump also suggested that Musk "recommended somebody he knew very well to run NASA. I didn't think it was appropriate, and he happened to be a Democrat, like totally Democrat."

Musk, meanwhile responded with "Whatever" to Trump...

"Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill," Musk wrote. "In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this!"

"Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way." 

And then there's this...

He then addressed Trump's specific comments regarding the bill, posting "False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!"

Prior to Trump's comments, Musk spent much of the morning re-posting old Trump tweets calling for no ficits and to stop raising the debt ceiling. 

Over the past several days Musk has dug in over the issue - posting to X on Tuesday, "I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination."

This sent the White House scrambling to do damage control - with Budget Director Russ Vought sending Congress a request for a $9.4 billion clawback for unspent foreign aid funding - which if you're Musk, after what DOGE has uncovered, is a huge slap in the face.

On Wednesday, Musk continued to rage on X - posting: "Call your Senator, Call your Congressman, Bankrupting America is NOT ok! Kill the Bill." - followed by a 'Kill Bill' movie poster featuring Uma Thurman. 

Musk's solution? A new spending bill that doesn't jack the debt ceiling by $5 trillion dollars while "massively" growing the deficit. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson also spoke out against Musk, saying "I think Elon is flat wrong." 

Developing...

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/im-very-disappointed-elon-trump-responds-musk-opposition-big-beautiful-bill

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Bayer's Push For State-Level Roundup Immunity Sparks Backlash In The Heartland

 In a brazen bid to shield itself from a tsunami of lawsuits over its toxic Roundup herbicide, Monsanto (acquired by Bayer Pharmaceutical) has unleashed a multi-state lobbying blitz to secure immunity from liability, with Missouri as a key battleground. 

The agrochemical giant, reeling from over $8.68 billion in pre-reduction jury verdicts and $11 billion in settlements, is pushing state legislatures to pass bills that would block "failure-to-warn" claims tied to glyphosate, Roundup's cancer-linked ingredient. 

But their heavy-handed tactics have sparked fierce resistance, exposing the corporate underbelly of a company desperate to dodge accountability.

In Missouri, home to Bayer's North American Crop Science headquarters, the company ramped up its lobbyists from four to nine - or about 1.29 lobbyists for each of the seven Senators of the Missouri Senate Agriculture Committee - directly before introducing Senate Bill 14, and its companion House Bill 2763.

Both bills - nearly identical to those seen in each state where courts have awarded billions for harms - were aimed at shielding Monsanto-Bayer from lawsuits claiming Roundup causes non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Missouri trial lawyer Matt Clement has successfully represented clients in their claims that Roundup was the cause of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

"Monsanto is trying to push legislation that would take away constitutional rights," Clement told ZeroHedge. "It [Bayer] has not been successful in getting courts to buy its preemption argument, so it is resorting to trying to pass state legislation that will do what most courts have refused to do."  

Missouri courts have already hammered Bayer with massive verdicts: $611 million, upheld on appeals in 2025 for three plaintiffs in Cole County (originally $1.56 billion), and $1.25 million for John Durnell in St. Louis. 

With 40,000 cases still pending in Missouri alone, Bayer's panic seemed palpable. Their strategy? Convince lawmakers that EPA-approved labels, which omit cancer warnings - despite jurys awarding plaintiffs a whopping total of $19.68 billion in verdicts and settlements to-date - should preempt state litigation.

"State law claims, which Monsanto is trying to take away with the proposed legislation, are the only way for private citizens to hold companies accountable," Clement explains. 

In 1947, Congress created The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Last significantly amended in 1972, FIFRA - administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - requires pesticides to be registered with the EPA before they can be sold or distributed in the United States. 

The law aims to ensure that pesticides are safe for human health and the environment when used according to their labeling.

However, when FIFRA was last reviewed by the EPA, the alleged harms of Roundup (backed by $19.68 billion in settlements) were not yet known. In addition, courts have held that private citizens can't use FIFRA to sue pesticide manufacturers for damages if they are injured by a chemical.

"In other words," Clement tells ZeroHedge, "only the EPA can enforce the terms of that law. Because the EPA only reviews the chemicals every fifteen years, there is no real enforcement mechanism except state law. If the proposed legislation takes that away, there is nothing left for an injured person to do." 

Due to the fact that registration and warning labels are administrative law, the only way to hold a company like Monsanto-Bayer accountable for not properly warning consumers, is through state-based constitutional law. Rather than pay out billions in on-going settlements, Bayer shifted its focus to PR and lobbying state lawmakers. 

Bayer's campaign, funneled through the Modern Ag Alliance and "murky groups" like the Protecting America Initiative, has spent an estimated $150,000 to $700,000 across 12 states, including Missouri, Iowa, and Georgia. 

In Missouri, nine Freedom Caucus Senators were targeted—Nick Schroer, Brad Hudson, Rick Brattin, Ben Brown, David Gregory, Mike Moon, Joe Nicola, Adam Schnelting, and Jill Carter—with vicious direct-mail flyers. 

The mail flyers accused the Freedom Caucus members of betraying American farmers and aiding China by opposing the bill. The senators, incensed by what they called "dark money" attacks, vowed to investigate via the Missouri Ethics Commission, effectively killing HB 2763 in the Senate through a filibuster.

The missteps were catastrophic.

Bayer underestimated bipartisan fury, with 24 House Republicans and 48 Democrats rejecting the bill. 

Aggressive ads and sponsorship of Governor Mike Kehoe's inauguration reeked of corporate overreach, alienating allies and fueling perceptions of prioritizing profits over public health. Critics also pointed to Monsanto's history of manipulating science, as exposed in California courts, which found the company focused on PR over safety.

Nationwide, Bayer's playbook proved more successful as Georgia passed an immunity bill (SB 144) into law this year. The new law could impact a $2.1 billion jury verdict awarded to plaintiff John Barnes, as Bayer is expected to appeal the case. 

North Dakota and Montana also passed shields, but legislative efforts faced resistance in states like Iowa, Florida, Tennessee and Idaho. With 54,000–67,000 lawsuits still looming and a $16 billion litigation war chest, Bayer's now scrambling for help from the U.S. Supreme Court and lobbying hard for Farm Bill amendments that reinforce federal preemption.

However, Congress could just as easily amend FIFRA to explicitly preserve states' rights or strengthen EPA labeling oversight. Meanwhile, the Trump administration can also update EPA regulations or issue executive guidance to limit the scope of federal preemption. 

These steps would close the loophole Bayer is attempting to exploit at the state level, ensuring victims of Roundup's alleged harms, can seek justice without federal interference. 

Either way, the fight highlights the need for regulatory reforms as the outcome will shape pesticide regulation for years to come.

Bayer's attempt to rewrite the rules and escape accountability has only hardened resolve among farmers, health advocates, and legislators alike. But, just as this saga illustrates the "corporate capture" outlined in the MAHA Report, the fight over Roundup's label is far from over.

https://www.zerohedge.com/food/bayers-push-state-level-roundup-immunity-sparks-backlash-heartland

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OpenAI finds more Chinese bad actors using ChatGPT for malicious purposes

 Chinese bad actors are using ChatGPT for malicious purposes – generating social media posts to sow political division across the US and seeking information on military technology, OpenAI said.

An organized China-linked operation, in one such incident dubbed “Uncle Spam,” used ChatGPT to generate social media posts that were supportive and critical of contentious topics related to US politics – and then posted both versions of the comments from separate accounts, the company said in a report released Thursday.

“This appears likely designed to exploit existing political divisions rather than to promote a specific ideological stance,” OpenAI wrote in the report, describing what is known as an influence operation.

OpenAI said it followed Meta’s lead to disrupt this operation, after the social media conglomerate discovered the actors were posting at hours through the day consistent with a work day in China.

The actors also used ChatGPT to make logos for their social media accounts that supported fake organizations – mainly creating personas of US veterans critical of President Trump, like a so-called “Veterans For Justice” group.

These users also tried to request code from ChatGPT that they could use to extract personal data from social media platforms like X and Bluesky, OpenAI said.

While the number of these operations has jumped, they had relatively little impact as these social media accounts typically had small followings, OpenAI said.

Another group of likely Chinese actors used ChatGPT to create polarizing comments on topics like USAID funding cuts and tariffs, which were then posted across social media sites.

In the comments of a TikTok video about USAID funding cuts, one of these accounts wrote: “Our goodwill was exploited. So disappointing.” 

Another post on X took the opposite stance: “$7.9M allocated to teach Sri Lankan journalists to avoid binary-gender language. Is this the best use of development funds?”

These actors made posts on X appearing to justify USAID cuts as a means of offsetting the tariffs.

“Tariffs make imported goods outrageously expensive, yet the government splurges on overseas aid. Who’s supposed to keep eating?” one post said.

Another read: “Tariffs are choking us, yet the government is spending money to ‘fund’ foreign politics.”

Donald Trump speaking during a meeting in the Oval Office.
The operations used ChatGPT to write divisive comments on some of the Trump administration’s policies, including USAID funding cuts and tariffs.AFP via Getty Images

In another China-linked operation, users posed as professionals based in Europe or Turkey working for nonexistent European news outlets.

They engaged with journalists and analysts on social media platforms like X, and offered money in exchange for information on the US economy and classified documents, all while using ChatGPT to translate their requests.

OpenAI said it also banned ChatGPT accounts associated with several bad actors who have been publicly linked to the People’s Republic of China.

These accounts asked ChatGPT for help with software development and for research into US military networks and government technology.

OpenAI regularly releases reports on malicious activity across its platform, including reports on fake content for websites and social media platforms and attempts to create damaging malware.

https://nypost.com/2025/06/05/business/openai-finds-more-chinese-bad-actors-using-chatgpt-for-malicious-purposes/

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Robinhood ‘a prime candidate’ to join S&P 500, says BofA

 After having hosted a quarterly update meeting with BofA’s Emma Huang and the firm’s Index Team in front of the S&P rebalance due on Friday, June 6 at 5:15 pm, BofA analyst Craig Siegenthaler views Robinhood (HOOD) as “a prime candidate” for the S&P 500 with the next rebalancing. The analyst views Cheniere Energy (LNG), Flutter Entertainment (FLUT), Veeva (VEEV), Carvana (CVNA), Ares Management (ARES) and AppLovin (APP) as other top candidates for additions and views Interactive Brokers (IBKR) as “a top migration candidate” from the S&P 400, BofA added. For Robinhood or Ares, which aren’t a part of the S&P 400, the firm notes it would expect “significant buying activity” from passive funds.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/robinhood-prime-candidate-join-p-125016563.html

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How Stop-And-Go Motion Supercharges Your Metabolism

 by Sheridan Genrich via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Most fitness advice focuses on structured workouts, but most of our daily movement occurs in small, unplanned bursts.

Maskot/Getty Images

Such bursts are often dismissed as insignificant, but actually impose a higher metabolic cost on the body than the same amount of continuous exercise. The reason? Inefficiency. Each time you go from rest to movement, your body must scramble to meet a sudden demand for energy, burning more fuel in the process.

Most of us don’t register daily stair climbs, walking between rooms at the office or home, or pacing while on the phone as meaningful exercise. However, research reveals that short, stop-and-go motions burn between 20 percent and 60 percent more energy per second than exercising at a steady pace, thanks to the metabolic cost of repeatedly starting from rest. This hidden inefficiency means our everyday fidgeting and fragmented activity may actually be fueling our metabolism more than we realize.

Volunteers in the study walked on a treadmill or climbed a short flight of stairs for different lengths of time, ranging from 10 seconds to four minutes. As they did so, they wore a mask to measure their oxygen intake—a means of measuring energy consumption.

By capturing the initial ramp-up and the extended recovery, the researchers found something exercise tracking devices often miss: real-life movement, which is stop-and-go, irregular, and surprisingly metabolically taxing.

In other words, when it comes to how our bodies burn fuel, moving little and often can actually increase energy expenditure.

Move Often

In 2023, research at the University of Sydney found that very short bursts of vigorous activity, even as brief as one to three minutes, were strongly linked to reduced risks of early death, cancer, heart attack, and stroke. Bouts of less than one minute also reduced the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE)—including nonfatal stroke, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and cardiovascular death—when the activity was low vigorous.

In the aggregate, these results mean that everyday actions like running for the bus, climbing stairs quickly, or power-walking during errands could become vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity.

‘Stop-and-Go’

When you begin to move, your body doesn’t glide into action—but generally lurches. Like an old engine on a cold morning, it sputters, runs rich, and only gradually finds its rhythm.

At the onset of movement, your muscles require energy immediately, but the aerobic system—which uses oxygen—takes time to ramp up. In those first few seconds, your body relies primarily on anaerobic energy systems, which do not require oxygen. There’s also a delay in increased oxygen consumption, which is linked to a gradual rise in breathing rate and blood flow to working muscles.

Even after you stop moving, your oxygen consumption remains elevated for several minutes. Both the startup and recovery phases contribute to the total energy burned, making brief bouts of movement surprisingly costly and inefficient in terms of calorie expenditure.

In other words, the shorter the movement, the higher the energy cost per second, due to the inefficiency of transitioning from rest to activity and back again.

Energy Burning Not Tracked by Wearable Devices

Most wearables and exercise calculators underestimate the energy cost of fragmented movement because they don’t account for the inefficiencies of starting and stopping. So, if your daily routine is filled with short, frequent movements, you’re likely burning more calories than your device reports.

Small changes can have an increased cumulative effect. For example, a 150-pound person who walks six times a day for five minutes at a time could burn an extra 30 to 90 calories per day compared to doing the same amount of walking in one session. Over a week, that’s an additional 350 to 1,000 calories—without formal workouts.

The benefits go beyond calorie burn. Another study has shown that interrupting long periods of sitting with brief bouts of light movement can lower blood glucose and insulin levels by 33 percent and 41 percent, respectively. This suggests that frequent, short bursts of activity can help regulate metabolism and may reduce the risk of chronic metabolic diseases like diabetes, and assist weight loss because efficient fuel use means less fat storage.

Practical Tips

The practical takeaway is to rethink what counts as exercise. The key isn’t to make movement harder or longer but more frequent and fragmented—even if only for a few seconds at a time.

Here are ways to easily add short bursts of energy to your day:

Break Up Long Sedentary Periods

  • Instead of sitting for hours, stand up and move around every 30 to 60 minutes. Set reminders if it helps you create the habit.

  • Even brief, light activity, like walking to another room or stretching, triggers the metabolic “startup cost” and increases your daily calorie burn.

Fragment Your Exercise

  • Split a 15-minute walk into three five-minute walks. The total distance is the same, but the energy cost is higher due to repeated startups and recoveries.

  • Climb stairs in short, frequent bursts rather than one long session. Each trip up the stairs adds its metabolic penalty.

Pair Movement With Routine Activities

  • Stretch or do simple exercises while waiting for the microwave or during TV commercials.

  • Pace during phone calls or while brainstorming ideas.

  • Split household chores into smaller chunks with fun movement like using a rebounder in between.

Engineer Inefficiency Into Your Day

  • Park farther from your destination so you have to walk more often.

  • Avoid using the elevator, if stairs are an option, even if it’s just for one or two floors.

Ultimately, it’s a good idea to move more often, you'll burn more—your body loves the challenge! Quick, explosive movements often demand more from your muscles and metabolism—encouraging fat loss and better health.

https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/how-stop-and-go-motion-supercharges-your-metabolism

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