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kidme5

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The Cadillac CTS utilizes a system that pumps the vehicle’s engine and exhaust sounds into the vehicle using its sound system.

Called Engine Sound Enhancement (ESE), the system amplifies the vehicle’s engine and exhaust sounds through the audio system.

Meanwhile 2.0L turbo models feature active noise cancellation, which uses sound waves to cancel unwanted cabin noise. Models equipped with the available Bose audio system also feature engine sound enhancement, which amplifies the native sounds of the 2.0L turbo engine – and can be disabled based on the driver’s preference.

Main points from the link:

Trump has been pitching a reboot of Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative using Elon's Starlink. At least publically since his reelection campaign: "the United States will build a missile defense shield to intercept nuclear weapons" https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/donald-trump-pla... It's also in Project 2025 / Heritage Foundation docs.

SpaceX was founded in 2002 with help of a CIA agent named Mike Griffin ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Griffin#Career ) who funneled them funding (lots of citations at end of https://archive.ph/D2zIG ). Griffin worked for In-Q-Tel and also was the Deputy of Technology for the Strategic Defense Initiative, later started the Space Development Agency (SDA) which is to become Trump's SDI in 2025.

Some choice excerpts:

- Since Reagan’s SDI program, the Republican think-tank Heritage Foundation (wrote Project 2025) has advocated for spaced-based weapons to “ensure peace through American strength”. In 2024, Heritage issued video clips and new publications calling for a spaced-based interceptor “overlayer” as part of an “impenetrable missile defense shield” based on Starlink. In 2022, the former Trump Administration director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Mike Pompeo explicitly called their new effort for space-based missile defenses “Strategic Defense Initiative II”.

- Gwynne Shotwell, was asked at a U.S. Air Force symposium in 2018 whether SpaceX would launch offensive weapons into orbit, to which she answered, “If it’s for the defense of this country, yes, I think we would”.

- President Donald Trump has strongly encouraged putting offensive weapons in space. As part of his 2024 reelection campaign announcement, Trump said “the United States must also build a state of the art next-generation missile defense shield to protect from the unthinkable threat of nuclear weapons.” and he said that “we actually have the technology and we’re going to build it.” Trump has also said that space-based interceptors will be a “very big part of our defense and obviously of our offense.”

- Mike Griffin, offered the SpaceX CTO role by Elon, was previously the Deputy of Technology at Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative. he created the Space Development Agency which funds satellites focused on communication, missile detection and tracking, Griffin and others have said that including space-based interceptor weapons in later layers will be "relatively easy" as he now works with SpaceX employees and major primes on re-entry warheads. The SDA expects to field and maintain a constellation of at least 1,000 satellites in orbit by 2026.

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Original leak via xAI: https://grook.ai/share?id=e269e88a7b1a71eff4f176c864b30161

Quotes & citations:

- Nature study on Mars being infeasible with Starship: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-54012-0

- Gwynne Shotwell, asked whether SpaceX would launch offensive weapons into orbit, to which she answered, “If it’s for the defense of this country, yes, I think we would” https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/09/spacex-well-co...

- U.S. government to develop space-based missile defense: https://www.science.org/content/article/decades-after-reagan...

- Political speech on constructing a new Strategic Defense Initiative: "we will build a shield in space to protect our people from the unthinkable threat of nuclear weapons" https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/donald-trump-pla...

- Shield overlayer "would put around 1,000 networked microsatellites in orbit that would serve as both sensors and communication relays, as well as platforms for launching interceptors." https://www.heritage.org/defense/report/time-new-missile-def... SHIELD overlayer

Musk offered the Chief Engineer title to Michael D. Griffin who is discussed elsewhere in this hackernews post. That was mentioned in Liftoff. Griffin basically felt he could pull more strings in Washington.

The nuke could be programmed/signaled to actually detonate if it encounters an interceptor AND is within X distance of target territory. In which case, it is an atmospheric nuclear explosion probably with EMP effects.

This is one reason people stress missile defense that hits the nuke immediately over their launch site (boost phase).

For NK that might mean interceptor UAVs hovering off the Korean coast or ships. But for Russia or China it means a Starlink-style system with hypersonic interceptors staged in orbit around the globe.

https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Development_Agency

This obviously has tons of flaws though. It would cause a feedback increase in nuclear stockpiling to counteract the fraction intercepted to ensure MAD.

Willingness to get vaccines and wear masks made New Yorkers look Chinese. Honestly I think when human population centers get dense and connected enough they are essentially the same. Economic ties and shared needs and values are ultimately more significant than the 6% of the population in government (e.g., Chinese CCP). The CCP is on their way out anyway and not a true threat.