“How China’s aerospace vision differs from Elon Musk’s SpaceX” | SCMP

China’s “net system” captures return rocket 

My comment at the site on China aerospace vision differs from Elon Musk’s SpaceX:

Classic China Cope! 

SpaceX was founded in 2002, China's space industry 46 years earlier. 

SpaceX landed reusable rocket in 2015, eleven years earlier than China. 

SpaceX launches more per year into space than all other space nations combined. 

SpaceX, a public company, launches double what the country of China launches.

SpaceX cost per kg to space one-third of Chinas Long March rockets.

SpaceX created Starlink, revolutionary worldwide internet access.... 

But... China relanding a booster eleven years LATER than SpaceX shows "superiority of the State Owned Model". Right…

Remember? Chinese experts — experts all over the world — said landing rockets back on earth was “impossible”.  Then when SpaceX did it, the cope continued: “Oh well, Elon didn’t do it as soon as he said he would”. (!)

Elon Musk being the guy who turns “impossible” into the merely “late”. (It’s happened with Tesla, too).

SpaceX will study what China has done, but won’t copy it. “Copying is not our style”. It sure is China’s style though. Baidu, WeChat, Alibaba, Taobao, even its EVs. All copied. Mind you, they do a damn fine job of it. They often improve the original. But it’s hard to come up with a single invention from China in the 21C that’s world-changing and a household name. 

All recognising China’s bright history and world-changing innovations (the compass, gunpowder, paper) in its long and remarkable history. See: Joseph Needham “Science and Civilisation in China”.

Earlier: SpaceX launches more than Rest of World.

Record Tesla sales here in Hong Kong

 

In May, Tesla Hong Kong: not just best selling EV, but best selling car of any type, gas or electric, full stop.

AMayzing. 

Best company in the world

That’s easy: Tesla

Or: Tesla when merged with SpaceX. Which will happen in a year. 

And will be run not by Elon Musk but by Gwynn Shotwell. According to Farzad.

It’s the everything company. 

Electric Cars

Robots 

Real world AI

Batteries

Lithium

Space

Data centres

Terafab chip making

Data centres in space

Humans on the moon

Lunar manufacturing

Mars

Humans on Mars 

Part of Elonososphere: Which includes all of the above. Plus: Solar City. Neuralink. Boring company  

There’s not a company even close to Tesla, let alone Tesla-SpaceX.

That’s my good news post for the last day of April.

Buy a single stock? Make it Tesla. Then you’ve bought the optimistic side of the future. 

If you want the pessimistic side of the future… vote Democrat. 

Simple as that. 

[Posted half way round a walk in Siena Park, here in Discovery Bay, Hong Kong

Waymo is cooked! Tesla’s cooking!

Smooth, cool dude Tesla > carbuncled Waymo

Haven’t heard of Waymo? 

It’s a driverless taxi. Currently operating in a number of cities in the U.S. and expanding. It’s owned by Google. Deep pockets. So how could it go wrong? 

Answer: by being the car version of Kodak, which stuck by 35mm film when digital was the go. By being the car version of Blockbuster when Netflix was the go. By being the car version of a flip phone when iPhone was the go. By sticking with multiple, brainless, sensors when cameras and a brain are the go.

Waymo has got too many sensors. Not just cameras, but Lidar, Radar… gaydar and sonar…. Heh! 

They make the car look like a warty carbuncle. All these sensors and systems don’t make the nav better and safer. They make it more complex and more often conflicting. Which is the opposite of what the naysayers, the Elon-haters have been saying for years. And now have to eat crow. Elon was right all along. And Waymo was wrong all along. 

Tesla has cameras and a brain. Like humans with our two eyes and a brain. As @brivael notes:

Sébastien Loeb throws a 208 T16 at 180 kph down a muddy Corsican path in the rain with zero LIDAR. Two eyes, one brain. Evolution gave predators eyes for 500 million years, not lasers. There's a reason.

LIDAR is the equivalent of Marxism applied to the economy. More…

Elon commented on @brivael’s post:  

“People oddly assumed that I didn’t understand LiDAR, even though I oversaw the custom LiDAR development that Dragon uses to dock with the Space Station.”

In short: I confidently predict that Waymo will fail. If not in a year, then within five. And that Tesla with its FSD will dominate the driverless market. Which will be, per the cartoon above, a tsunami. A good tsunami! Getting around will be easier, safer, more efficient, better for the environment, and … cheaper!

And it will be so for everyone. As the Chinese say, for 男女老少, Nánnǚ lǎoshào, for Men and Women, for Young and Old. 

Great news for Tesla! | Herbert Ong & Brian Lutz

 

Great news for Tesla!

Great news for the world! 

The beginning of the transport revolution is here!

The Dutch regulator, RDW, just gave permission for Tesla's Full Self Driving (FSD) software to be used there. That will mean the rest of the EU 27 will soon do the same. The Dutch, and its RDW, are known as the gold standard in testing and licencing vehicles. 

About the Tesla FSD, the RDW said more than just "OK". They said Tesla's FSD was "the best system" they've tried and tested, rigorously, over 18 months. 

Likely other countries outside the EU will follow. China. Japan. Hopefully us here in Hong Kong, where Tesla's are super popular. 

The revolution is not just to the ease and increased safety in driving cars. It's another step to fully autonomous cars. And then to a whole new paradigm of how we get around. Cities will change. They'll get better, as we don't need so many private cars and so many buses and so many parking lots. Cities will get cleaner, more friendly, more relaxed. 

Things is gonna get better!

EV Sales, U.S. Q1 2026. For info post

 EVs ranked by total unit sold in the U.S. in Q1 2026.

1) Tesla Model Y: 78,591

2) Tesla Model 3: 31,672

3) Toyota bZ: 10,029

4) Hyundai Ioniq 5: 9,790

5) Chevrolet Equinox EV: 9,589

6) Rivian R1S: 5,494

7) Ford Mustang Mach-E: 4,600

8) Lexus RZ: 4,456

9) Tesla Cybertruck: 3,519

10) Cadillac Lyriq: 3,370

11) Honda Prologue: 3,319

12) Rivian EDV: 3,213

13) Subaru Solterra: 3,041

14) Cadillac Optiq: 2,847

15) Kia EV9: 2,740

16) Tesla Model X: 2,346

17) BMW i4: 2,184

18) Kia EV6: 2,023

19) Hyundai Ioniq 9: 1,990

20) Cadillac Vistiq: 1,902

21) BMW iX: 1,788

22) Rivian R1T: 1,658

23) GMC Hummer EV: 1,653

24) Lucid Gravity: 1,631

25) Cadillac Escalade IQ: 1,432

There’s more. Courtesy Sawyer Merritt on X.

Steven Mark Ryan comments on his "Solving the Money Problem" YT Channel.

Shall I make the obvious point? Oh, go on then. Well, it's this: that Tesla's top models outsold the rest of the top 25 by 33%. Tesla's single top selling car, the Model Y, outsold the rest of the top 20 put together. 

Plus, not shown here: Tesla was the biggest selling EV in the whole world in Q1. Yes, they did outsell China's BYD! Tesla outsold Chinese EV cars even in China. While costing 3 to 4 times as much as Chinese made EV and hybrid cars, in China. 

Tesla crushing it in China…

 

,,. and Japan and Korea and Australia and Hong Kong…

And… it’s not a car company! It’s a robot and AI company. And an energy company: batteries and Superchargers.

Time for some good news. Brought to you by Danish YouTuber Lars Strandridder.

Jay does Tesla. The Semi

Jay Leno is a huge car guy. He owns 180 cars kept in “Jay’s Big Dog Garage”, in Burbank CA, worth some $US 100 million. He’s loves all types of car, from steam engines, to turbines and EVs. 

He’s hugely knowledgeable about them. 

This Tesla Semi can go 800 km on one charge. And recharge in half an hour. It’s more aerodynamic than a Bugatti Veyron. It cost about 20% less to run than the equivalent diesel truck. It doesn’t slow down when it goes up hills, a big safety feature. Safety is built in to the whole concept, as the two Tesla guys explain.

Trucks are 1% of U.S. traffic, but consume 18% of all diesel. So Tesla trucks are going to reduce that dramatically. 

Inside it’s a cool truck. Seat in the middle. Office chair for a travelling office. 

Production starts this year. As do Cybercabs. So, a big year for Tesla.

These guys are some of what makes me optimistic about America. While the shenanigans go on in Washington, people are out there doing stuff, inventing stuff, improving stuff, making stuff. Making stuff to make the world better. America’s inventive can-do spirit is exemplified by these guys. 

ADDED: Meantime ning nongs in Australia torched a Tesla showroom. These are the retards that thought Elon Musk was a climate hero. Until he used his brain to leave the tribe. 

TESLA FSD: Chinese influencer is impressed

Chinese influencer Li Chi flew from China to California for the sole purpose of experiencing Tesla FSD — Full Self Driving— firsthand. Here are his impressions:

“Flew 25,000 km — half the globe — just to personally experience Tesla’s smart driving and compare it with Huawei’s smart driving. “I’ll skip the detailed process and go straight to the conclusion: “Under normal weather and road conditions, Tesla’s vision-based routing is first-class. (I didn’t get a chance to test in foggy conditions). In certain scenarios, Tesla outperforms Huawei. For example, when activating smart driving, Tesla can reverse to avoid a vehicle parked on the left, then go around it and rejoin the road ahead — quite impressive. “Route selection capability is also top-tier. It doesn’t just follow conventional routes but can take shortcuts through residential roads. Acceleration is crisp and decisive, without hesitation… “In short, Tesla FSD is improving very quickly. Physically removing the steering wheel would already present no real obstacles. “ I hope China will soon allow Tesla FSD to operate domestically, enabling earlier adoption of L3 and encouraging competition with local manufacturers.”

h/t: @Ray4Tesla

Me: I believe Tesla FSD will soon be allowed here in Hong Kong. 

Governors take no responsibility for the regulations that drive out businesses

 

Sophia Miller on the easy target of the incompetent Gavin Newsom. 

Newsom has, almost single-handedly, ruined the very fine economy of California. 

Now Newsom stands by while companies leave, but says he has "no apologies" for instituting the most draconian legislation in the United States. Legislation which strangles businesses, like Tesla. 

Tesla has moved to Texas, taking its 15,000 jobs with it. 

Elon Musk has compared this regulatory tangle to the Lilliputians who tied up Gulliver. Each of their tiny ropes did nothing. But their sheer number of ropes tied him down like a strangled hog. (Elon has suggested that there be a policy: no new laws until at least 3 or 4 or 5 existing laws are repealed. And make every new law enacted have a sunset period). 

Elon has said that there are so many regulations in California, that basically building things there has become illegal. Because one or other of the many dozens of regulations is going to find your project non-compliant. 

When he had SpaceX there, Elon complained that they could build a whole new rocket more quickly than the bureaucrats could pass a piece of paper from one desk to another....

Sophia Miller at around 15:45, et seq:

California now has to pay higher interest rates to borrow money. This means the state's debt costs go up, which leaves less money for schools, roads, and public services. That leads to more cuts, which in turn causes more people and businesses to leave. The spiral continues.

And here's the kicker: the governor's office has spent the last year trying to spin this as a temporary setback. They've called it a "market correction." They've blamed federal policy, corporate greed, and even climate change. But they haven't taken responsibility for the policies that caused it.

In a press conference in April 2025, the governor was asked directly whether California's regulatory environment played a role in Tesla's departure. His response: "We make no apologies for holding corporations accountable to the highest environmental and labor standards." In other words, we'd do it all again.

But here's the reality check: accountability without competitiveness is just economic suicide. You can have the highest standards in the world, but if nobody can afford to meet them, you don't get clean industry—you get no industry. And when you have no industry, you have no jobs. When you have no jobs, you have no tax base. And when you have no tax base, you can't fund the very programs you claim to care about. It's not complicated. It's math.

So where does this leave us? Let me recap the chain of events, because it's important to see how each piece led to the next:

California imposed a complex, slow, and expensive regulatory system on manufacturers. Tesla tried to navigate that system and found it financially unsustainable. Tesla moved operations to states with simpler rules and lower costs. Other manufacturers followed. California lost jobs, tax revenue, and economic momentum. The state responded by raising taxes and cutting services, which accelerated the exodus. The fiscal crisis deepened. The spiral continues.

And through it all, California's leadership refused to admit that their policies were the problem.

Here's the broader warning: what happened in California is not unique. It's a case study in how ideologically driven policy—disconnected from economic reality—can destroy prosperity in less than a decade. Other states are watching. Other countries are watching.

The lesson is clear: if you want to attract investment, create jobs, and build a sustainable economy, you have to make it possible for businesses to succeed. You can't regulate your way to utopia. You can't tax your way to prosperity. And you can't ignore the trade-offs.

“The Singularity is here” | Elon Musk & Peter Diamandis

 This is a very long video on Peter Diamandis’ YT channel with Dave Blundin. Also one of the most comprehensive interviews, to help us understand the grand visions of Elon Musk, the most consequential human on the planet.*

A lot of focus on energy.

Energy determines wealth and growth. On energy “Solar is everything”. Elon is also full on with nuclear. But big pic and long term, he says, the Sun is our biggest supplier of energy. We’re far away from using even a fraction of one percent of the Sun’s energy. 

Grok: “We use roughly 0.01% of the Sun's total energy output that reaches Earth (≈ 0.00001% of the Sun's total energy production).”

Timestamps:

00:00 - Navigating the Future of AI and Robotics

04:56 - The Promise of Abundance and Optimism 
10:02 - Energy: The Key to a Sustainable Future 

15:00 - The Role of Education in a Changing World 

41:34 - Health, Longevity, and the Future of Humanity 

51:14 - AI's Impact on Labor and Employment 

55:34 - Universal High Income: A New Economic Paradigm 

58:25 - Navigating the Singularity and AI's Acceleration 

01:02:55 - The Role of AI in Healthcare and Surgery 

01:08:51 - Ethics and AI: Programming Values into Machines 

01:14:43 - The Future of Space Exploration and AI's Role 

01:35:01 - The Chip Shortage Crisis 

01:44:16 - Simulation Theory and Consciousness 

01:49:45 - The Search for Extraterrestrial Life
02:00:01 - The Future of Robotics and AI Integration

=======================

*You don’t agree? That Elon is “the most consequential human on the planet”? Then who? What other entrepreneur? What other politician? What other scientist? 

Tesla to double in 2026...

 

Steven Mark Ryan, on his "Solving the Money Problem” podcast. 

He’s a Tesla Bull. Also: He knows whereof he speaks, on matters TESLA. 

On which we are VERY LONG....

"Elon Musk is the genius of the milleniium" | Ron Barron

 

And, says Steven Mark Ryan, Elon Musk is "The MVP of Earth". 

I've said he's "The Mozart of Business". "MVP of Earth" is sexier, for sure. More with it. More Rizz baby... 

Elon is the ultimate transformational CEO. A man we're lucky to live in the time of. 

“Tesla China Crushes Targets” | Herbert Ong

 

People, like me even, Tesla Bull, often forget Tesla has a major factory in China. Which is selling into China and around Asia, like here in Hong Kong. 

Herbert Ong reports how well Tesla is doing in China. Despite major competition from much cheaper Chinese EVs. 

“Elon Musk just blew Cathie Wood’s mind” | Steven Mark Ryan

 

Some very major thoughts here from Elon Musk. 

This from a man who in 2007 accurately predicted where things technology would be today.

Cathie Wood is major analyst at Ark Investment.

Steven Mark Ryan runs “Solving the Money Problem” video channel. Long time and knowledgeable TSLA Bull

What on earth is happening on the Right? | Chicks on the Right

This is super important if you care about what’s happening on the American conservative side of politics. 

Tucker Carlson. Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes are influential enough and crazy Groyper enough to fracture the Republican Party, lose the midterms and even lose 2028. “Groyper”? Look it up.

Chicks on the Right have been on YouTube for a decade plus and truly care about this. 

Tesla stock is a ’must own’ as world nears dramatic shift, Melius says

Go LONG TSLA! (That's me saying that. And I've said that for a LONG while).

Analysts are catching up. 

Here's what an Investing.com analyst says:

Investing.com -- Tesla’s autonomous-driving lead is approaching an irreversible tipping point that could trigger one of the biggest value shifts in modern industrial history, according to a new report from Melius Research.

Analyst Rob Wertheimer said the firm recently called Tesla a “must own” because “the world is about to change, dramatically.” 

Drawing on a Hemingway line about a bankruptcy happening, “two ways, gradually, then suddenly,” Wertheimer wrote that the same dynamic now applies to autonomy.

But, he stressed, “our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is.”

Melius argues that autonomy is nearing the moment when years of incremental progress suddenly give way to mass adoption, transforming what Wertheimer calls “a $7 trillion dollar sector.” 

He adds that the next five years “will see hundreds of billions in value shift… to Tesla.”

Public awareness remains low. “Not even 1 out of 100 Americans have ridden in a self-driving car,” Wertheimer stated, adding that only “tens of thousands” have tried Tesla’s latest supervised FSD system. When widespread rollout arrives, “it will still shock most people.”

The catalyst, Melius says, is the accelerating improvement in Tesla’s full self-driving software, now at version 14.1.7.  Read on...

Israel bans Chinese cars

	Mario Nawfal ⁦‪@MarioNawfal‬⁩ 🚨🇨🇳🇮🇱 ISRAEL BANS CHINESE CARS FROM MILITARY BASES - BECAUSE SPIES COME STANDARD NOW Israel just dropped the hammer on Chinese-made vehicles - banning them from all IDF bases. Why? Because in 2025, espionage doesn't need a spy - it just needs a car. Think sensors, GPS, comms pic.x.com/IVYMcfohid   7/8/2025, 9:50 pm

Inroads for Tesla. 

Do read the whole article above, by clicking on the X post. It explains why cars are the perfect spy tool. They are always on, nowadays have cameras and listening devices, they go where you go, they can easily transmit back to China. Where AI can easily sort the wheat from the chaff. 

Tesla tops the pack in China-run test of Self Driving

Click above for video. 

Wow! China does a test, a tough test, of 36 cars in China, using various types of self-driving systems. Only one foreign car was amongst them: Tesla. And the winner? Tesla! 

In a test done in China! That's remarkable. Tests done in China usually lean heavily pro-China. You can't get a tougher test that this one, and it was still won, clearly and unambiguously, by Tesla. 

To go straight to the Advanced Driver Assistance Systems test done in China, click here. 

Otherwise above or https://youtu.be/Z6q_WUpAtLA?si=uhAB9ftAkJ_OEMUG

Trouble in paradise: Golf Buggy Wars

 Cecilia,

I received yesterday a copy of an anonymous email from someone at HKRI, had sent to my wife.

From: "."@hkri.com
Date: 26 May 2025 at 16:40:52 HKT
To: jinglee@netvigator.com
Cc: Zico Chiu <zico.chiu@hkri.com>
Subject: Purchase of Langqing electric golf cart

Dear Ms. Lee,

Following the introduction meeting on 15 April 2025, we have been following up your requirements with the golf cart suppler.  Regarding your request for a golf cart with back-to-back seating arrangement, we have reservations in introducing new golf carts with such arrangement in view of safety.  In fact, we have stopped offering new golf cart with back-to-back seating arrangement for a long period of time.

Following the phone call with your goodself on last Friday morning, we immediately contacted the supplier and learnt from them that a Langqing 4-seater forward-facing golf cart in blue color is under production currently.  Should this be acceptable to you, we could proceed to place order for you.  Most grateful if you could let us have your prompt response on whether to accept or not.


Best Regards,

DISCOVERY BAY TRANSIT SERVICES LIMITED
Tel: 2987 7351
Fax: 2987 5246
Email: dbtpl@hkri.com

Ref: TS/E168/25

It claims to answer concerns Jing and I expressed to you last Friday 23 May and my email later that day. 

But it does not at all answer our concerns and suggestions. It simply restates your position. 

Let me restate ours: we wish to have Choice. And wish for more Transparency. We are the residents, we pay the management fees, and thereby your salaries. We drive the golf carts, we own them. 

And yet you make the choices. And you show no transparency.

We golf cart owners are treated ever worse over the years. By ultra high prices, by high maintenance costs, by tighter restrictions on parking. And now, as the aging golf carts fleet needs replacement, by an arbitrary selection of two brands of golf cart that we had no part in choosing. 

The Safety issue.

You repeat your preference for seat-forward option is because of "reservations" over Safety. 

We say our preference for the "back-to-back" seat is also for safety. 

The difference is: your view is based in anecdote. On a story from one or more people.

Our view is based on data. From the experience and scientific testing, all of which prove our view is more substantial and correct.

I find no reports that justify your concerns about children's safety. There have been some accidents over the years, none recorded as fatal or grievous. If you have a record of one, please provide the Accident Report(s). Transparency is important. 

If safety is the top concern, one should have considered the electric micro car, which is made for residential restricted roads such as ours and is safer than any golf cart. I brought this to the attention of DBTSL and DBSML several times, but never any interest shown. 

The Choice Issue

Back to the choice issue. We do not suggest that our own preference be the preference for all people. If someone wants forward-facing seats let them have it. If somebody wants back-to-back, let them have it. 

What is the reason for having only one type of Lǎng Qíng 朗晴? We have long had several brands on our streets, the Club Car, the Yamaha, the EZ-Go and the Columbia. So consistency is no longer a strong requirement. 

We repeat: This issue is easily fixable. 

Allow us the choice to have the back-to-back Lang Qing that we want. Done. 

The Transparency Issue

We know the Lǎng Qíng company and we know that they can easily and quickly provide the one we want. It's incorrect to say "Langqing 4-seater forward-facing golf cart in blue color is under production currently..." and to assume that this means the back-to-back is not available. It is available. I could order one today and it would be with me in two week. I do wish your staff would make a better job of talking consistently and not always changing their story. There's a lack of transparency and of fair dealing with us. That's a fact, attested by the various confusing and inconsistent information we've been given over these many months. 

And then commit going forward, to being more transparent in everything you do. Transparency is a call everywhere these days. Be a part of it. 

Why do you insist on making life difficult for us? Your job is Service. Not obfuscation and objections. 

If you detect a note of frustration in this email, it's because I am indeed frustrated. I reflect the anger, frustration and annoyment of many golf cart owners in Discovery Bay. It would be good if you could take this into account. 

Regards

Peter Forsythe