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'Insanity': At Pentagon, Musk Will Gain Access To Top-Secret US War Plans

South African centibillionaire Elon Musk — one of President Donald Trump's closest advisors — is now reportedly scheduled to receive a top-secret briefing involving the United States' top-secret plans in the event the nation goes to war with China.

The New York Times reported Thursday evening that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO will be visiting the Pentagon on Friday to get "access to some of the nation’s most closely guarded military secrets." Those war plans are detailed in "20 to 30 slides" that reveal exactly how the U.S. would plan to fight a war against the world's most populous nation and second-largest economy. The Times Julian E. Barnes, Maggie Haberman, Eric Lipton, Ryan Mac and Eric Schmitt noted that the briefing comes despite Musk having "extensive financial interests in China."

"If a foreign country was to learn how the United States planned to fight a war against them, it could reinforce its defenses and address its weaknesses, making the plans far less likely to succeed," the reporters wrote.

Some Musk critics expressed worry that China has significant leverage over the centibillionaire. Progressive activist Murshed Zaheed opined that the Times' reporting included "bats--- crazy" details about Musk's potential conflicts of interest toward the end of the report. In the final five paragraphs of the article, the Times reported that the Tesla factory in Shanghai — which was "built with special permission from the Chinese government" — is responsible for "more than half of Tesla's global deliveries." Tesla also has a $2.8 billion loan agreement with Chinese lenders "for production expenditures."

Consultant Matt Ortega pointed out that Chinese President Xi Jinping could simply tell Musk to "provide us with the U.S. war plan or we will close your Shanghai factory." Journalist Radley Balko exclaimed that Musk getting access to Chinese war plans was "insanity." Former FBI counterterrorism official Frank Figliuzzi called Musk getting the war plans a "clear and present danger." And author and journalist Tim Weiner reminded his followers that Vivek Ramaswamy — who co-founded the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with Musk — once said in 2023 that the tech billionaire would "jump like a circus monkey when Xi Jinping calls in the hour of need."

"If you give the war plans to Musk, you might as well give them to China," Weiner wrote on Bluesky.

Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell implied to the Times that Musk's visit was merely casual, saying: "The Defense Department is excited to welcome Elon Musk to the Pentagon on Friday. He was invited by Secretary Hegseth and is just visiting."

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

'Elon Emails' Pulled Operators Away From Social Security Hotline

Over the weekend, South African centibillionaire Elon Musk gave federal workers an ultimatum: Respond to an email asking what they accomplished at work this week, or risk losing their jobs. This has reportedly caused an interruption in services for at least one critical federal agency.

Talking Points Memo reported Monday that the 1-800 number for the Social Security Administration (SSA) was interrupted, as workers were expressly told they had to "write their Elon emails" even if they answered calls to the hotline. TPM founder Josh Marshall reported that Jill Hornick — a union representative for the American Federation of Government Workers (AFGE) Local 1395 chapter — confirmed that agency higher-ups expected hotline workers to take time way from their duties to respond to Musk's email.

Hornick specified to Marshall that hotline workers' schedules were being managed to ensure that desks would be manned throughout the day on Monday even as some workers stepped away from the phones to write their weekly work summaries. However, he noted that workers were somewhat caught off-guard by the response deadline, and that most calls to the hotline are from elderly people on fixed incomes having difficulty accessing the money they depend on to live.

"Needless to say, what’s created this crisis posture is the fact that all of this is being demanded on one day’s notice," Mrshall wrote. "According to the email, all the replies must be submitted no later than 11:59 PM tonight."

Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency," or DOGE (which is not yet an official federal agency authorized by Congress) sent the email on Saturday to the roughly two million federal workers over the weekend through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which effectively functions as the federal government's human resources department. TPM reporter Josh Kovensky posted to Bluesky that one unnamed "hill source" said that at least one federal judge also got the OPM email.

Some agencies have taken a different approach to the Musk email, with workers elsewhere being told they didn't have to respond to Musk's demands. And federal workers' unions have made it clear that they will have workers' backs if DOGE attempts to remove them for not complying with the ultimatum.

In an all-caps post to his Truth Social platform on Saturday, President Donald Trump made it clear he not only approves of what Musk is doing, but that he should "GET MORE AGGRESSIVE." He added that "WE HAVE A COUNTRY TO SAVE," though he didn't specify what he was attempted to save the country from.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Hinting Rebuke Of China, U.S. Praises South Africa's Detection Of New COVID Strain

Washington (AFP) - The United States praised South Africa Saturday for quickly identifying the new Covid strain called Omicron and sharing this information with the world -- a barely veiled slap at China's handling of the original outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with South Africa's international relations and cooperation minister, Naledi Pandor, and they discussed cooperation on vaccinating people in Africa against COVID-19, the State Department said.

"Secretary Blinken specifically praised South Africa’s scientists for the quick identification of the Omicron variant and South Africa’s government for its transparency in sharing this information, which should serve as a model for the world," the statement said.

First under Donald Trump and now under President Joe Biden, the United States has repeatedly criticized China as not being forthcoming on the origins of the coronavirus, which was first detected in December 2019 in the Chinese city of Wuhan before spreading around the world. It has now killed nearly 5.2 million people.

In August of this year the US intelligence community released a report in which it said it could not reach a firm conclusion on the origins of the virus -- among animals or in a research lab were top scenarios -- because China had not helped in the US probe.

The U.S. has also accused Beijing of waiting too long before sharing crucial information about the outbreak, saying that a more transparent handling could have helped halt the spread of the virus.

After the U.S. report was issued this summer, Biden accused Beijing of stonewalling.

"The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them," Biden said in a statement after that unclassified report came out.

"Responsible nations do not shirk these kinds of responsibilities to the rest of the world."

The pandemic is one of many sources of acute tension today in US-China relations, as the two great powers clash over trade, human rights, and the prickly issue of Taiwan, among other matters.

British Authorities Warn Of New COVID-19 Variant: 'Most Significant Yet Found'

By Alistair Smout and Costas Pitas

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain said on Friday that a newly identified coronavirus variant spreading in South Africa was of huge concern, and considered by scientists to be the most significant one yet found as it could make vaccines less effective.

The UK Health Security Agency said that the variant - called B.1.1.529 - had a spike protein that was dramatically different to the one in the original coronavirus that COVID-19 vaccines are based on.

The variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong, and Britain has banned flights from South Africa and five neighbouring countries.

"There are no detected cases of this variant in the UK at this time. But this new variant is of huge international concern," health minister Sajid Javid told lawmakers.

"We are concerned that this new variant may pose a substantial risk to public health. The variant has an unusually large number of mutations."

Javid paid tribute to South African scientists for their openness and transparency. South Africa has said that Britain's decision to halt flights from the country seemed rushed.

Javid emphasised that there was much that was not yet known about the variant, but early indications suggested it might render vaccines less effective and be more transmissible, and he was concerned about a surge in cases in South Africa.

"One of the lessons of this pandemic has been the we must move quickly and at the earliest possible moment," Javid said.

Earlier, British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended a temporary ban on flights from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Eswatini.

"As scientists have described, (this is) the most significant variant they've encountered to date in their research," Shapps told Sky News.

Flights will be halted until Sunday, when entry will be banned to all except British and Irish nationals and those with residency rights, who will have to quarantine in hotels.

Virgin Atlantic, which currently operates a London Heathrow to Johannesburg service, said flights were cancelled until Sunday and its schedule next week was under review.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Costas Pitas and Alistair Smout; Editing by William Schomberg and Alex Richardson)

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Smart. Sharp. Funny. Fearless

'Insanity': At Pentagon, Musk Will Gain Access To Top-Secret US War Plans

Hinting Rebuke Of China, U.S. Praises South Africa's Detection Of New COVID Strain

British Authorities Warn Of New COVID-19 Variant: 'Most Significant Yet Found'

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