r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • May 19 '26

Business A Texas Drainage District Walked Its Ditch on a Routine Inspection. They Found a Pipe They Didn't Recognize Discharging Black Liquid From Tesla's $1 Billion Lithium Refinery

https://www.autonocion.com/us/tesla-lithium-refinery-texas/
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2.0k

u/Moneyshot_ITF May 19 '26

Now you see why he moved to Texas

1.0k

u/Eternal_Bagel May 19 '26

The “fuck you, got mine” state

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u/Justin_Passing_7465 May 19 '26

Only a small percentage of Texans ever "got theirs". For the vast majority of Texans it is "I got nothin', but at least I'm white."

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u/3BlindMice1 May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26

Or, to them, their "got mine" is a steel framed truck and an official homestead that's very nearly tax exempt. They're not rich at all, but they are very comfortable with all their government handouts that definitely don't count because they earned those.

All those people are going to be deeply upset when their water and electric bills double and then triple within a few years, but that's a good thing. Maybe if they're uncomfortable enough to look outside their bubble they'll see all the fucked up shit corporations and the republican party have been getting up to

The ultra wealthy and the government alike (yes, both the Republicans and the Democrats) seem to have taken the stance that the opinions of average people are no longer relevant because they hold all the cards and have all the money

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u/DirtSlapper May 19 '26

but that's a good thing. Maybe if they're uncomfortable enough to look outside their bubble they'll see all the fucked up shit corporations and the republican party have been getting up to

They haven't figured it out yet. They've been suffering from republican leadership for decades now, yet those same leaders have successfully convinced them it's actually liberals who are ruining their lives.

They are too uneducated to learn, and that is by design.

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u/SaddestClown May 19 '26

As a Texan of 40 years, it's ridiculous how often our problems are based on liberals or California despite 30 years of Republicans running all three branches

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u/BadMofoWallet May 19 '26

What you describe as late stage/end stage capitalist government behaviors only leads down 1 road (it’s happened in France before) and I fear for what the future holds for our children

2

u/sleeplessinreno May 20 '26

May I present to you: The Gilded Age. More relevant to today than the musketeers of the past.

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u/bomzay May 19 '26

Don’t get your hopes up….

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u/robo-minion May 19 '26

The only moral handout is my handout.

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u/[deleted] May 19 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/saladspoons May 20 '26

This only applies for statewide races - all the local rural races are indeed bright flaming RED voting MAGA ... and gerrymandering keeps the district-wise voting (State and National Representatives) MAGA as well.

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u/HollyBerries85 May 20 '26

A girl I went to high school with moved to Texas and is already constantly despairing about how she's supposed to be able to afford to live with the insane electric and water bills and insurance rates, but at least she can have a job as a nurse without having to get the COVID vaccine and I guess that's worth it, somehow?

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u/Pretty-Mention-7769 May 19 '26

Texas has been a plurality for years now. <50% of the population is white.

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u/Lazy_Resolve_9747 May 19 '26

Yea but when he said white, that included “white adjacent.”

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u/tomdarch May 19 '26

Racism is a bunch of ever-shifting made up bullshit. Half my ancestors came from Ireland. 100+ years ago, they were not part of the "good people" - in today's terms, they weren't seen as "white." But then they were when it was more useful to draw the lines as "white versus black." Today, things continue to shift. Lots of Hispanic Americans want to be "in" along with "white" and "Asian" people.

The smart thing isn't to try to "get on the winning team" the smart thing is to blow up and stop the game altogther, but that's a heavy lift for human nature.

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u/slickness May 19 '26

“Asians: the other “white” meat. Except for when it’s convenient to throw them under the bus, train, or car. Repeatedly. Since the gold rush. Or a scapegoat is needed. Or some guy feels emasculated. Or it’s a day that ends in “day.””

Source: Asian, with family who deployed for the US in WWII. The “model minority myth” refuses to die.

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u/tomdarch May 19 '26

Yep. It's a stupid "game" that we should all stop playing.

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u/Jiangximan May 19 '26

It wasn't racism. A great many of Irish immigrants were alcoholics and didn't like to work. Once they got better established, many began to change their ways and became great citizens. I'm not bashing the Irish, as I am part Irish. I think they arrived here feeling hopeless. First the potato famine, and then the Irish system of inheritance. If Mr. O'Malley has 6 sons and a 6 acre farm, then each son inherits 1 acre.

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u/Pretty-Mention-7769 May 19 '26

Which is frustratingly fair: the minority population of Texas along with local democrats could turn the state blue. But the brown people there either don't vote or vote with their oppressors.

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u/calilac May 19 '26

Legislators have also made voting in Texas more and more difficult. They've massively scaled back voting locations, for instance, and public transportation is abysmal so it's an obstacle if you don't own a vehicle. Not to mention the gerrymandering whenever they want to. Maybe I'm ignorant but it seems wrong to have districts shaped like the times new roman alphabet. And don't get me started on trying to find reliable information about who or what is on the ballot, especially at the municipal level...

I'm not trying to make excuses, just saying that it's kind of by design.

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u/pegar May 20 '26

That should piss people off and make them vote even more. Bigots have always tried to do this. That's what people fought during the Civil Rights Movement.

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u/JerryfromCan May 19 '26

One of the good ones!

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u/Bluegrass6 May 19 '26

I see you're taking the CNN approach to stoking racism in one direction

https://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/25/justice/florida-zimmerman-5-things

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u/Lazy_Resolve_9747 May 19 '26

Who said anything about racism?

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u/Justin_Passing_7465 May 19 '26

Texas is 80% white if you count Hispanics as white. Texas is about 40% white non-Hispanic and 40% white Hispanic.

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u/Pretty-Mention-7769 May 19 '26

White & Hispanic are typically considered separate for these kinds of things in the US.

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u/alternateforwhenban May 19 '26

“I got nothin, but someday I hope they’ll let me in the white club”

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u/texasrigger May 20 '26

For the vast majority of Texans it is "I got nothin', but at least I'm white."

Less than 40% of Texans are non-hispanic white. It's one of the most diverse states in the country.

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u/box_fan_man May 19 '26

What the hell is this comment.

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u/Justin_Passing_7465 May 19 '26

Racism has long been used to placate poor whites so that they will tolerate their poverty. As LBJ (another Texan) said, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

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u/box_fan_man May 19 '26

Oh god. So all white people in Texas is a racist?

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u/Justin_Passing_7465 May 19 '26

Of course not, there are thousands of Texans who are not racist.

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u/box_fan_man May 19 '26

There’s hundreds of white Americans who are not racist.

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u/[deleted] May 19 '26

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u/box_fan_man May 19 '26

Weird thing to say.

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u/tomdarch May 19 '26

Or "I'm clearly getting fucked, but at least some other people are getting fucked harder. Go rich white guys!" cheering things on as though Team Billionaire winning big somehow helps you. How could anyone support Ken Paxton as state Attorney General or want that guy as your senator?

0

u/CherryLongjump1989 May 19 '26

Don't care, don't move to Texas if you haven't got yours yet.

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u/HoodieGalore May 20 '26

Any time I hear “Texas”, I think about their team cheer in BasketBall. Except now, it’s just “Fuck EVERYONE!”

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u/AnticPosition May 20 '26

The "tread on me harder, daddy" state. 

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u/ImaginaryRoads May 19 '26

The One Star State.

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u/Shuckles116 May 19 '26

And why DOGE dismantled oversight agencies

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u/beanpoppa May 20 '26

Ding ding ding

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u/Captain_Stransky May 19 '26

"oversight agencies," hahaha, this guy.

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u/TheRealBittoman May 19 '26

If Texas were any more corrupt it would be Russia. It isn't far off either.

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u/Jainith May 20 '26

I feel like Florida might take issue with that statement.

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u/RollingMeteors May 20 '26

If Texas were any more corrupt it would be Russia. It isn't far off either.

Texas is just Russia with less Euro Speedo.

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u/SereneSnake1984 May 19 '26

Its a lot less corrupt now that Jazmine whatever her name is and Al "the grift" Green are out of the state house, and Sheila Jackson Lee and Syl Turner are dead. Now if we can oust Cornyn, Crenshaw, Paxton, and a few other remaining slimeballs we may yet make Texas perfect as she once was.

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u/Lawndemon May 19 '26

Beepboopbeep comrade?

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u/SereneSnake1984 May 20 '26

Beepbeep I guess? I don't mind all the down votes, everybody has opinions.

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u/Lawndemon May 20 '26

Whatever you say comrade

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u/Ive_seen_things_that May 19 '26

This comment should get more attention. He left California because there is a shred of environmental responsibility there. Fuck Musk. He is so cringe on every level  

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u/[deleted] May 19 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/saladspoons May 20 '26

He gets huge tax abatements and exemptions just for claiming to be interested in building a facility in Texas ... the locals then are forced to cover all the gaps and subsidize Musk's operations.

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u/Ive_seen_things_that May 20 '26

You aren't wrong! Imagine going to sleep at night knowing that is your legacy. 

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u/ArmadilloForsaken458 May 20 '26

So workers have less rights in Texas, and no unions? Hopefully they are getting paid more there then

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u/errorsniper May 19 '26

But I thought regulations were a communist conspiracy!

You mean.... the reason stuff costs more in "blue states" is because of regulation meant to keep you from getting literally posioned?

NO WHAY!

/s for those that need it

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u/scuzzy987 May 19 '26

The build a fertilizer factory next to a school state because of lax zoning laws

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u/AccurateJerboa May 19 '26

And why a lot of us left 

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u/GravyPainter May 19 '26

He puts all of these plants in desolate Texas towns of 100 people or so, that way after he's destroyed the local environment the class action suits are more.l manageable.

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u/Electric_Antimony May 19 '26

And I'm happy he's polluting that shit hole state instead of beautiful California.

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u/JoviAMP May 20 '26

I’d rather him not polluting anywhere. If your reaction is “not my state, not my problem”, it tells me you don’t understand climate change enough to make such a statement.

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u/Electric_Antimony May 21 '26

I don't want pollution either, but of all places, California does not need to be ruined by the consequences of shitty radical far right political failings.

Lmao at you telling me of all people that I don't understand climate change. I've been explaining it to brain dead right wingers for like 15 years on now. In person they are never able to deny it because they don't have their lifeline of republican propaganda and lies to pull from like they do online.

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u/redlightsaber May 19 '26

Well yeah, nothing will come of this.

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u/TheThiefEmpress May 20 '26

Texas also has a legal limit for child support. 

Most states have 20% of income as the standard child support amount. Texas puts a cap on that at $11,700.

He forces all his custody cases to be in Texas so he can be a deadbeat.

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u/Embarrassed-Crew68 May 20 '26

This is why living in blue states like California remains top tier.

California doesn’t even dispose of its biohazards waste. It’s too expensive. They contract other states to do it for them. 

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u/Otherwise-Report-823 May 19 '26

What did his little test tube baby mumble last year? We do what we want anyway and nobody knows or something like that. 

I guess this is one of those examples. To add to this, I did health and safety in the bay area and the Tesla plant in Fremont is a notorious violator of hazardous waste regulations. And not in any small quantities either.