Smoke and mirrors

We will post our Q3 2026 financial and operational results on October 20, 2026. We will host a live audio-only webcast at 3:30 p.m. CT the same day → ir.spacex.com/updates/releas…

Oprah Winfrey gave 276 people brand-new cars on live television. Some later discovered they could owe up to $7,000 in taxes just to keep their “free” gift. In September 2004, Oprah opened the 19th season of her show with an enormous surprise. Her producers had filled the audience with people who genuinely needed transportation. Each was about to receive a Pontiac G6 worth roughly $28,500. First, Oprah brought 11 people onto the stage and gave them cars. Then she handed gift boxes to everyone else, telling them that one box contained the keys to another vehicle. Every box had keys. The audience screamed, cried and hugged strangers as Oprah announced that everybody was getting a car. The entire giveaway was worth more than $7 million. But the cars hadn't come out of Oprah's pocket. Pontiac supplied them as part of a massive promotional campaign. And there was something the cameras hadn't explained. Under US tax rules, the cars counted as prize income. Pontiac covered sales taxes and certain local fees, but winners remained responsible for income taxes. Depending on their tax brackets, some faced bills approaching $7,000. They could pay the tax, sell the car to cover it, or decline the prize. One recipient described the situation as getting a car at a 75% discount rather than receiving one for free. The gift was still valuable. But some of the people chosen precisely because they needed financial help now had to find thousands of dollars they hadn't planned to spend. Two months later, Oprah held another giveaway. This time, the gifts came with checks intended to help recipients pay their taxes. Twenty-two years later, millions still remember Oprah shouting that everybody was getting a car. Far fewer remember the bills that arrived afterward.

You are not ready for this rabbit hole.... The Gate Program

2-min explainer of the full piece. Made with @bot

Gahhdamn I know they sick of you!

“How do you co-own the IP of a human, when you have all the things that come with humans." Podcaster & Host of ‘The Diary of a CEO’ @StevenBartlett shares insights on the creator economy, founder-led equity, and the unique realities of scaling personal brand IP. #BloombergScreentime ⏯️ bloom.bg/3VoElqL

“I do not want your pity; I want your love, or I want to be left alone in my ruin.” - Giacomo Leopardi Giacomo Leopardi examined themes of desire, nature, imagination, illusion, loneliness, mortality, and the painful divide between human longing and what reality can actually offer. In works such as Canti, Operette morali, and Zibaldone, he challenged the reassuring idea that nature exists for human happiness. He believed people are capable of imagining endless happiness and fulfillment, yet must live within a world defined by physical limits and unavoidable circumstances. For Leopardi, imagination offered one of the few ways to escape those limits. Childhood, memories, distant places, and the unknown could seem beautiful because they allowed the mind to envision something greater than the present moment. Over time, however, he became increasingly doubtful of human progress and pride, emphasizing humanity’s limited power over nature and death. Although his philosophy was deeply pessimistic, it also pointed toward solidarity: if suffering is an unavoidable part of being human, people can still choose to face it together rather than leave one another to endure it alone.

Freeman Dyson's teaches definition of Science ✍️ The whole point of science is that most of it is uncertain. That's why science is exciting--because we don't know. Science is all about things we don't understand. The public, of course, imagines science is just a set of facts. But it's not. Science is a process of exploring, which is always partial. We explore, and we find out things that we understand. We find out things we thought we understood were wrong. That's how it makes progress. -- as mentioned in a 2014 interview 📷 Science Photo Library

Wow, this is history

What is a 19 year old boy

😲

What now?? 🤔😲

absolute nightmare. makes you realize how fragile everything really is at that age

man I used to stress about losing my keys at 19, this is a whole new level of nightmare

$10.2B in R&D and we've optimized degenerative brain rot for teens

Welcome to America, where anyone can video anything they want in a public area without permission. This isn't some third world shit hole country!

who are you really