"It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked."

Said Warren Buffet, quoted in "It’s a ‘Swimming Naked’ Moment: The Financial System Has a Real Test/The coronavirus spread and its economic effects are stressing the U.S. system for the first time since the 2008 financial crisis" by James B. Stewart (in the NYT).

"He said that criminalizing sex with teenage girls was a cultural aberration and that at times in history it was perfectly acceptable."

"He pointed out that homosexuality had long been considered a crime and was still punishable by death in some parts of the world.... He said people in Silicon Valley had a reputation for being geeky workaholics, but... [t]hey were hedonistic and regular users of recreational drugs. He said he’d witnessed prominent tech figures taking drugs and arranging for sex.... When I later reflected on our interview, I was struck by how little information Mr. Epstein had actually provided. While I can’t say anything he said was an explicit lie, much of what he said was vague or speculative and couldn’t be proved or disproved.... [E]arly this year Mr. Epstein called to ask if I’d be interested in writing his biography. He sounded almost plaintive. I sensed that what he really wanted was companionship. As his biographer, I’d have no choice but to spend hours listening to his saga. Already leery of any further ties to him, I was relieved I could say that I was already busy with another book. That was the last I heard from him. After his arrest and suicide, I’m left to wonder: What might he have told me?"

From "The Day Jeffrey Epstein Told Me He Had Dirt on Powerful People" by James B. Stewart (NYT).

"We've had the privilege to carry a century of humanity. But maybe what we carry isn’t just people, it's an idea: that while we're not the same, we can be one."

Cadillac's ad (to play during the Oscars):



I got there via "Cadillac Ad Tries to Bridge Nation’s Chasm, Without Falling In," by James B. Stewart (in the NYT), who compares this ad to Audi's Super Bowl ad (which we talked about here). Stewart writes:

Uwe Ellinghaus, chief marketing officer of Global Cadillac, said, “We can have a point of view without adding fuel to any controversial political debate."...  [But] “I didn’t see how we could shy away from the division in the country,” he said. “We didn’t want to enter the political debate. We wanted to transcend it.”

Perhaps it took two non-Americans — Mr. Sadoun is French, Mr. Ellinghaus is German — to suggest that by acknowledging the divide, an ad campaign might actually help heal it. After all, America had been divided before in its history — at times far more than now. (Hence the image of a civil rights demonstration.) The nation had overcome the divisions, moved forward and prospered, the American dream intact.

For many years (though not in recent decades), the Cadillac brand embodied that dream. Perhaps Cadillac’s ad could remind Americans of the nation’s resilience and inherent optimism, and “celebrate what America is capable of,” Mr. Ellinghaus said....

“Cadillac realizes that it needs to connect with buyers emotionally,” Ms. Sewell said. “That’s never been more true than now in the luxury space.” In the ad, Cadillac is identified with “unity, optimism, courage — the great American values,” she said. “I think dealers and customers, too, are hungry to hear something positive like this.”

The NYT detects a "budding bromance" between Elon Musk and Donald Trump.

The article, by James B. Stewart, is "Elon Musk Has Trump’s Ear, and Wall Street Takes Note." Musk had been anti-Trump before the election — or so he said in his public statements (who can know what is in a man's head?).

I absolutely adore the photograph — by Sasha Maslov — that accompanies this article. The unusual color, composition, and mood made me think of Edward Hopper paintings. Musk looks so alone and so pensive. I'd like to give this painting the title "The Man Who Is Not Smoking" (because of the hand positions and the smoke-like reflection in the background).

Now, back to Stewart's article.

[Musk, at a White House meeting,] broached the subject of a carbon tax. Surprisingly, Mr. Trump didn’t reject it out of hand....

Mr. Musk has broached the subject of the nation’s aging electricity transmission grid in conversations with Mr. Trump, according to an insider with knowledge of the discussions.

Trump lets Musk broach. Fine.

It’s still early in the Trump administration, and some (or all) of this may turn out to be wishful thinking by fans of Mr. Musk, Tesla investors, environmentalists and hopeful space colonists.

Hmm. Seems to me Trump is gathering people in. He lets people approach. Approach and broach. Then what?