

Russia is Turning Elon Musk into Tony Stark - ytNumbers
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-05-14/russia-is-turning-elon-musk-into-tony-stark

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rdtsc
> In the politically charged atmosphere of a new stand-off with Russia,
> however, it isn't the technology that matters so much as Musk's ability to
> present himself as a patriot, rushing in to save his country from malevolent
> Russians.

This sounds like a biased piece, with an agenda. I posit Bershidsky is not
quite an impartial observer on this case. I can see how both ULA and the
Russian would be chomping at the bit to make sure every news source has
articles criticizing Musk.

We'll probably be seeing pieces about Musk's personal life. Maybe he smoked
pot in college, and somehow, someone would remember and then make sure to
write a memoir, that will make its way into the public media. With titles like
"Oh, no, our great American Patriot is a pot head"

The dangerous game Musk is playing is that, besides sticking sticks in the
spokes of ULA's business directly, he is painting them as unpatriotic. One
thing Lockheed and Boeing don't want is to seem that. They make billions from
US govt contracts. This is going to enrage them. And they might start doing
shadier things than usual.

~~~
bayesianhorse
US-American "moguls" don't get killed as often as their Russian counterparts.
And even Russia is careful about being too obvious, lest the totalitarian
nature of the state becomes common knowledge outside (or beware even inside)
Russia...

~~~
stcredzero
Is the US a semi-oligarchy wrapped up in the trappings of a republic?

~~~
bayesianhorse
I think it is dangerous to start such a discussion with the diagnosis of
"semi-oligarchy". The first thing you should look at is that, "integrated"
over all citizens (and even residents and "illegal aliens"), you won't find a
country that offers much more freedom and more opportunity. You can argue if
some European countries beat the US in some of these categories, but none of
them are as much better than the US, than the US is better compared to Russia
or China.

The US political system is designed to be rigid against change. Which is
mostly a good thing, until, of course, it isn't. But this rigidity is a big
strength, and accounts for much of the trust of the world economy in the US
government(s).

How to choose leaders and administrators is a tough problem, and I don't have
a lot of trust in people who don't actually participate in politics but
believe they have a way of choosing leaders and policies that is superior to
all the proven ways.

~~~
stcredzero
_you won 't find a country that offers much more freedom and more opportunity_

Quite true. I'm not saying the US is bad. I'm just pointing out that it's not
some kind of anointed perfection.

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nickpinkston
More like Howard Hughes - the 20th Century version and with aviation.

Remember the Senate hearing where Hughes fought and won against the senate's
(apparently) special interest influences.

Musk's hearing video really reminds of Hughes'

Musk: [http://youtu.be/he0-SP-BnCQ?t=10m30s](http://youtu.be/he0-SP-
BnCQ?t=10m30s)

Hughes:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7vu1dlow5A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7vu1dlow5A)

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astrodust
Isn't the irony here that Elon Musk inspired the Tony Stark in the movies?
[http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/tesla-
ceo-...](http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/stories/tesla-ceo-elon-
musk-inspired-tony-stark-of-iron-man-fame)

~~~
hnnewguy
> _" Musk, 38, is a rocket scientist," writes Favreau. "He designed the Falcon
> 9...And he designed the Tesla, one of the first electric cars of the modern
> era."_

Maybe someone better tuned to this can help: is any of this remotely true?

I know he started these companies, but can he really be credited with
designing these things, or are we looking for a hero? Seems like a lack of
credit is given to those doing the dirty work.

~~~
bayesianhorse
He funded and lead the design effort, which may be as difficult as any
particular design job involved in it. The tone of the article is a bit
enthusiastic towards Musk, but in some sense, Elon Musk certainly deserves a
bit of "worship".

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DominikR
It should have been mentioned that in fact, NASA suspended all cooperation
with Russia at the end of March, except for the ISS.

Therefore it's not a unilateral action the Russians are taking here, they are
merely responding to the various sanctions the US imposed on them.

I am sure, the persons involved with sanctioning Russia did know that this
would be a possible reaction. It's just unrealistic that NASA could have
sanctioned Russia on every aspect they don't need cooperation while expecting
the Russians to keep cooperating where they need them.

Link: [http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/03/us/us-russia-relations-
nas...](http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/03/us/us-russia-relations-nasa/)

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josephschmoe
Isn't Tony Stark, the modern rendition, largely based on Elon Musk?

This title could read as:

Russia is Turning Elon Musk into Elon Musk.

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happyscrappy
>Musk should be paying the man a salary for providing him with the business
opportunity of a lifetime.

Rogozin is apparently quite an idiot.

~~~
geoka9
On the contrary, he's a politician riding the wave of militaristic nationalism
that he helped create. Patriotism and such have nothing to do with it.

~~~
happyscrappy
It's win win win. He gets a short term political boost, Musk gets the rocket
business and the US sheds reliance on Russia.

~~~
rdtsc
ULA won't let this slide. This cuts into their PR image and the bottom line
(having to switch to Delta rockets).

~~~
happyscrappy
ULA will spend zero capital on PR to justify buying Russian rockets as the
Russian brand will become more and more tainted as Ukraine unravels, it is a
huge win for Musk, amazing considering he became a citizen just over a decade
ago.

