Meet DOGE, Elon Musk and his crew

Ann Arbor and Troy, MI, against Elon Musk

I attended two Tesla Takedown protests. The generation that showed up was the one I least expected. "Tesla Takedown" protests have happened in cities around the country in opposition to Musk's DOGE work.

Demonstrators are calling for Tesla owners to sell their stock and cars. Some owners have seen their vehicles vandalized.

Tesla's stock price taken a hit this month, and some shareholders told BI they want to sell their shares. Criticism of Elon Musk has spilled out from the virtual walls of social networks and into the streets. Demonstrators have gathered in cities around the US in recent days and weeks to participate in "Tesla Takedown" protests of varying sizes.

(Josh Johnson) Those who bought Tesla before

they knew Elon Musk might have Nazi leanings

• So long microplastics: Japanese scientists have created a new plastic that dissolves in just a few hours at sea [into smaller pieces of plastic?]

Meanwhile, some Tesla owners have said they have faced insults or vandalism amid the Musk criticism. Participants of the protests have called for a boycott of the EV giant in response to Musk's involvement with the Trump administration and DOGE's efforts to decrease the size of the federal workforce.

SpaceX, please send Elon Musk to Mars

The "Tesla Takedown" effort started on BlueSky, a competitor to Musk's X platform, and now has a dedicated website (teslatakedown.com). The site calls for Tesla owners to sell their vehicles and stock in an effort to "stop Musk now."

The website's organizer, "Bill & Ted" actor and filmmaker Alex Winter, wrote in a Rolling Stone op-ed that demonstrations have happened at over 100 Tesla showrooms and other locations.

Stop pretending racism is American patriotism

Tesla owner and shareholder David Abrams told Business Insider he's heard about multiple protests but wasn't aware of the "takedown" effort specifically.

Abrams said he added "Anti Elon Tesla Club" and "I Bought This Before Elon Went Crazy" stickers to his car window and is hoping that's enough to keep it from getting vandalized.

"I absolutely want to sell my car and my shares," Abrams said, adding that he's waiting for the stock price to go up and would have sold his car already if it made financial sense. More

Elon Musk's DOGE team breaks silence

(Fox News) Premiered March 28, 2025: Elon Musk and his team at DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency, the office rather than the bad crypto coin) sit down with "Special Report" Anchor Bret Baier to discuss their effort to reduce wasteful government spending. The "Fox & Friends" co-hosts also weigh in.

#elonmusk #doge #politics Watch more Fox News Video: http://video.foxnews.com Watch Fox News Channel Live: http://www.foxnewsgo.com/ FOX News Channel (FNC) is a 24-hour all-encompassing news service delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. The number one network in cable, FNC has been the most-watched television news channel for 18 consecutive years. According to a 2020 Brand Keys Consumer Loyalty Engagement Index report, FOX News is the top brand in the country for morning and evening news coverage. A 2019 Suffolk University poll named FOX News as the most trusted source for television news or commentary, while a 2019 Brand Keys Emotion Engagement Analysis survey found that FOX News was the most trusted cable news brand. A 2017 Gallup/Knight Foundation survey also found that among Americans who could name an objective news source, FOX News was the top-cited outlet. Owned by FOX Corporation, FNC is available in nearly 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.

• Story by lvaranasi@businessinsider.com (Lakshmi Varanasi), photos by Nic Antaya for Business Insider, 3/30/25; Fox News, March 28, 2025

Keep savings safe as gold (video)

Pat Macpherson, S.Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval, Wisdom Quarterly; Money Metals; ITM Trading

I'm taking my gold bullion, shaping it into a Buddha, putting it in a safe (tricycle.org).

What is the price of gold today? One ounce is going for $1,527 or so (depending).

Samantabadra in yab yum

The Buddha's advice on money is found in the Sigalovada Sutra and says one should take one's money and split it into four equal parts: 1) spend and enjoy, 2) pay off debts (bills, loans, etc.), 3) restock inventory, 4) put away as savings.

1. Spend on wants.
2. Spend on business needs.*
3. Spend on producing more wealth.
4. Save for times of need.

• *Inventory, paying employees, advertising, taxes, insurance, and so on.

The only better investment is good karma.

To preserve money it's not enough to store fiat currency (faith money like greenbacks) in the mattress and coffee can. It takes an investment in something that is not affected by inflation and deflation. Gold never loses its value for long, and it not infrequently climbs in value to earn more money than it cost to buy it in the first place.

Do not accept paper notes that say someone else is holding the gold (metal). Get the metal. This may mean investment in coins, which are a ripoff because the minting eats up part of the value. Krugerrands are better. Progressive loudmouth Thom Hartmann says he prefers ITM Trading for stowing away his troy ounces of gold... Better than gold is merit (profitable wholesome karma) that ripens in the future.

Gold: Not Just for Right-Wingers!

• (Mother Jones, May 2010) ...Thom Hartmann have both endorsed ITM Trading, an Arizona company that, like Goldline, pushes [overpriced] gold coins as “the best way..."

Jobs: workers wanted

How small savings become big savings
Even if you haven't saved at all, it's possible to retire with more than $1 million in the bank. Cut the waste

Enterprising women launch businesses at flea market
(Mercury News) Andrea Ricardez surveys her jewelry spread across three tables. Earrings catch the light from their displays, multicolored bracelets of all shapes, sizes and styles huddle together, and necklaces line up along the flat tables. Two tables down, Nubia Finch chats up a potential customer and gestures toward a group of gold and bronze necklaces. More>>

Even as layoffs persist, some good jobs go begging
(AP) In a brutal job market, here's a task that might sound easy: Fill jobs in nursing, engineering, and energy research that pay $55,000 to $60,000, plus benefits. Yet even with 15 million people hunting for work, even with the unemployment rate nearing 10 percent, some employers can't find enough qualified people for good-paying career jobs. More>>

• "Accomplishments" not to tout in resumé
  Real-life examples of having a better shot at a job if you leave some things out your resumé.
• 20 simple financial strategies
  Streamline by applying these techniques for spending and saving.
• Bankruptcies soar in '09

Money Matters (Protecting Savings)

How to protect your savings
There are sure-fire ways to keep your money safe even if your bank fails. Check your balances
400 "problem" banks
Sneaky bank fees

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• California to shut its largest youth prison
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Wi-Fi code cracked in a minute
The latest security system for wireless networks proves to be as vulnerable as its predecessor. Protect yourself
Internet addiction clinic
Free spyware software

107 y.o. man outlives savings twice

Man outlives savings twice
At 107, Larry Haubner is vigorous as ever, but his money is about to run out yet again.

His story (washingtonpost.com)

Find secrets of longevity

Fame and Longevity in Buddhism
(Lily de Silva, former visiting scholar, Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions)

These two human ambitions depend to a very large extent on the manner one handles wealth and pleasure. Special mention should be made that liquor, like sensuality, is a great betrayer of all human ambitions. It has been aptly remarked that human conscience is soluble in alcohol. According to Buddhism both liquor and sensuality destroy one's physical and mental health, drain one's resources, spoil one's public image, and distort one's intellectual capacities (D. III, 182-184). More>>

Money I forgot I had

JERUSALEM – An Israeli woman mistakenly threw out a mattress she said had almost $1 million inside, setting off a frantic search through tons of garbage at a number of landfill sites on Wednesday. The woman told The Associated Press that she bought her elderly mother a new mattress as a surprise present on Monday — and threw out the old one. The next day, she said, she remembered that she had hidden her life savings inside the old mattress. "I woke up in the morning screaming, when it hit me what happened," said the Tel Aviv woman, who asked not to be identified. More>>

Secrets of frugal Millionaires

Secrets of frugal millionaires
Interviews with 70 millionaires reveal how they spend their money and keep more of it. Habits of the rich

• The richest people in 10 big towns

End of the Dollar (the new Amero)

Hal Turner

The future of the US economy is in doubt with an economy-destroying, economy-resuscitating plan: the launch of the "Amero," a new North American currency. (NAFTA had ulterior motives behind it). Watch all your savings evaporate in an instant. Here's what you can do about it.

See Buddhist "end of the world" scenario in previous posts. This is one of the many sociopolitical upheavals in the Kali Yuga ("Age of Decline"). And if one were to end up bone broke, there is still the enduring Dharma to fall back on. So practice now, practice then, and practice in the future until safely in the realm of devas ("shining ones," light-body beings).