"If money won’t matter in 2036, why don’t you pledge to donate your current wealth… to charity no later than 2036?"

A question from the economist Daron Acemoglu to Elon Musk, quoted in "Is Elon Musk right that money will be worth nothing in ten years? The world’s richest man says there’s no need to save because AI is going to change the value of everything. He might have a point…" (London Times).

Musk's answer: "I am actually going to do something along these lines." Hmm. So he's not going to do that. He's going to do something else. Like what? Invest in companies that create many jobs and make things for the benefit of mankind, that is, what he's been doing all along? Or hold onto his wealth until it disappears because, according to his theory, money will be nothing in 10 years, so that will be about the same as giving it all away?

"We take what we do very seriously. We’re not making little goody bags — we’re really thinking out what it is people need the most."

Said Jeffrey Newman, quoted in "Jayson Conner, 48, and Jeffrey Newman, 58, Die; Gave Thousands of Backpacks to Those in Need/The couple, who died within a few days of each other, provided needed supplies, like socks and wet wipes, to people living on New York City’s streets" (NYT).

"... I made remarks that were inappropriate. I regret my hurtful comments. I have apologized to my colleague."

Said Justice Sotomayor, quoted in "Justice Sonia Sotomayor issues unusual apology over 'hurtful' remarks about colleague Brett Kavanaugh/The liberal Supreme Court justice had criticized her conservative colleague while she was talking about an opinion he wrote last year in an immigration case" (NBC News).

Here's the statement for which she apologized: "This is from a man whose parents were professionals. And probably doesn’t really know any person who works by the hour." 

You can see the context at the link. She didn't call the "man" by name — it was Kavanaugh — and she didn't even say he lacked empathy. She didn't even assert that he lacked experience with the working class. She didn't even say he probably doesn’t know anyone who works by the hour. She only said he probably doesn’t really know anyone like that. 

To really know someone... that takes a lot. That's a high standard! She apologized for only saying that he probably didn't meet a high standard. Why apologize then?

Perhaps it's an effort to appear especially virtuous herself, but perhaps the motivation is to stop Kavanaugh supporters from getting lots of attention coming forward with accounts of his interactions with working class people. Kavanaugh has volunteered to serve the poor through Catholic Charities, he's done tutoring, and he's coached youth basketball in the Catholic Youth Organization league. This was widely reported during the confirmation hearings but that was years ago. It could all be laid out again, in detail, and with hooting at Justice Sotomayor. Some might ask whether Justice Sotomayor has done equivalent charity and service to the poor and working class. Better to apologize.

"The cuts are a sign that Jeff Bezos, who became one of the world’s richest people by selling things on the internet, has not yet figured out how to build and maintain a profitable publication on the internet."

"The paper expanded during the first several years of his ownership, but the company has sputtered more recently. Matt Murray, The Post’s executive editor, said on a call Wednesday morning with newsroom employees that the company had lost too much money for too long and had not been meeting readers’ needs. He said that all sections would be affected in some way, and that the result would be a publication focused even more on national news and politics, as well as business and health, and far less on other areas."

From "Washington Post Begins Laying Off More Than 300 Journalists/The layoffs will cut into The Post’s local, international and sports coverage, and reduce the number of all its employees by about 30 percent" (NYT).

What's it to Bezos? Why doesn't he just bankroll the operation? Make it so good it's worthy of spending money on?

A famous question: "Now, tell me honestly, my boy, don't you think it's rather unwise to continue  this philanthropic enterprise, this Inquirer that's costing you a million dollar a year?" Famously answered:

"Now the senator came down here/Showing ev’ryone his gun/Handing out free tickets/To the wedding of his son."

"An’ me, I nearly got busted/An’ wouldn’t it be my luck/To get caught without a ticket/And be discovered beneath a truck...."

Sang Bob Dylan, in his most-Bob-Dylan song, "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again."

I'm just trying to read The New York Times* and the headline is "Handing Out Free Tickets, Mamdani Says Theater Should Not Be 'a Luxury.'"

What's with these politicians handing out free tickets? I'm suspicious, but maybe the mayor's just flaky, pie-in-the-sky.

“The shared laughter in a crowded theater, the eager debrief after a musical, the heavy silence that hangs over all of us in a drama — these are moments that every New Yorker deserves,” Mamdani said later, explaining the initiative during a news conference at one of the festival’s venues, Brooklyn College’s Leonard and Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts.

That quote is wild. What man of the people would say "the eager debrief after a musical"? He seems like more of a poet... an abstruse poet. 

There was once a country ruled by a poet. It was Václav Havel, the last president of Czechoslovakia. 

_________________________________

* If you're with me in Bob Dylandom, you just thought "shoot a few holes, blow their minds." But I don't like seeing those words today, in the shadow of the killing of Renee Good, and there they are along with "showing ev’ryone his gun" and "discovered beneath a truck" — truck ≈ SUV.

Mickey Rourke doesn't want your charity.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by MICKEY ROURKE (@mickey_rourke_)

Background: "Mickey Rourke Declines $100,000 in Donations After His Eviction/Rourke’s landlord said in court documents that the actor owed nearly $60,000 in rent. Rourke said he had opted not to pay rent after the home became uninhabitable" (NYT).

"If spun correctly, a dog’s difficult past can be a selling point. 'People want a dog that has an incredible story, that’s really been saved from something terrible'..."

"... [Heather Hall, the director of One Tail at a Time-West Texas] told me. 'Who wants an eighty-pound black pit bull? Well, we can make you want them, because that’s a really incredible dog that was tied up on an oil rig for four weeks and then fed by two different crews and then got bit by a rattlesnake and abandoned at the vet. Now he can be your heroic save story.' (She later told me that this example was not hypothetical and that the dog is now living happily in Portland.)"

From "The Airlift Operation That Has Transformed Pet Adoption/Euthanasia in an under-equipped shelter used to be the fate of many dogs in Texas. Then chartered planes started bringing them North" (The New Yorker).

"The Democratic Party Faces a Voter Registration Crisis/The party is bleeding support beyond the ballot box, a new analysis shows."

That's the headline in the lead article at the NYT this morning. 

Here's a free access link. Excerpt:

There are still more Democrats registered nationwide than Republicans, partly because of big blue states like California allow people to register by party, while red states like Texas do not. But the trajectory is troublesome for Democrats, and there are growing tensions over what to do about it. Democrats went from nearly an 11-percentage-point edge over Republicans on Election Day 2020 in those places with partisan registration, to just over a 6-percentage-point edge in 2024.... 

It must be quite a crisis or I don't think the NYT would openly call it a crisis. They even used my favorite word, "flummox": "... Democrats are divided and flummoxed over what to do."

A big part of the problem is that they can't use nonprofits the way they used to:

"‘Mommy, the guy who’s been giving money to our school doesn’t want to give it to us anymore."

Said a little kindergarten boy, quoted in "The Zuckerbergs Founded Two Bay Area Schools. Now They’re Closing. Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, opened the schools to help communities of color. Some families wonder if the shutting of the schools is related to his D.E.I. retrenchment" (NYT).

Why doesn't the guy who’s been giving money to the school not want to give it anymore? Even if Zuck has turned against DEI efforts within institutions, this is a free-standing school, located in a place where it serves underprivileged children. That sounds like a traditional charity. Why would you cut that off? The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has given only $100 million to this school over the past 4 years. What's that in the larger scheme of Zuckerberg's wealth? You're just suddenly casting out hundreds of children you've made a show of saving from the "trauma" you attributed to their status as "low-income." I'm sorry, I don't see how closing the school is worth doing. 

What is the evidence that the closure of the school represents opposition to the greater DEI agenda? I'm seeing this:

"As Jolie moved through the rooms of her gallery with a cup of tea, she paused to take in the unlikely scene. 'Sometimes I think, what are we doing?'..."

"A clutch of women had found their place beside her, urgently wanting to talk about art and activism. 'And then I think, no, this is everything.'"

From "Angelina Jolie Wants to Pick Up Where Warhol and Basquiat Left Off/The actress is building a community of artists, thinkers and doers of all kinds, in a storied building in downtown Manhattan" (NYT)(free-access link, so you can see the art, the artists, and the artsy spaces).

Jolie listened intently to Neshat, the Iranian visual artist and filmmaker, a striking figure with kohled eyes. “Art doesn’t come from intuition,” Neshat said. “It has to come from the life you have led. It has to relate to the world.”

Meanwhile, Jolie's ex, Brad Pitt, is running into trouble with his real-estate-based humanitarianism: "Brad Pitt Suffers Major Setback In $20M Legal Battle Over Defective Homes For Hurricane Katrina Victims" (Yahoo).

The actor had built homes for these individuals in the wake of the natural disaster, but the homes reportedly developed dangerous mold, leading to the class action they filed.... Pitt had spent $12 million through his Make It Right Project to build these homes, which were designed to be ecologically sustainable....

"Last Christmas was originally released in 1984, but lost the top spot to Band Aid's single, which raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia."

"The charity made a renewed bid for the charts this year, with a 40th anniversary 'ultimate mix' of Do They Know Its Christmas, blending vocals from the various versions of the song that have been recorded over the years, But the re-release faltered after a row over the lyrics, with critics calling the song outdated and colonialist, and Ed Sheeran saying he wasn't asked for permission to re-use his voice. In the end, the song charted at number 12, nestled between Kelly Clarkson's Underneath The Tree and Andy Williams' 1963 standard It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year."

BBC gives us the latest news about this year's Christmas pop charts, in "Wham! are Christmas number one for a second time."

It's funny to think of Wham and that charity duking it out over the decades. And right now, Wham has the moral high ground, because Band Aid's moralistic posturing became politically incorrect. 

But Band Aid is still a charity. Shouldn't Ed Sheeran have registered his objection privately and accepted the flow of money to what presumably is still a reasonably good cause? Reading that linked article, I see that Sheeren cited a statement made by a rapper who, 10 years ago, declined to participate in Band Aid because things like that "perpetuate damaging stereotypes that stifle Africa's economic growth, tourism, and investment, ultimately costing the continent trillions and destroying its dignity, pride and identity."

The rapper, Fuse ODG, who is British-Ghanian, said "there's a way to do things without destroying our collective pride. There's a way to do things without it costing us in tourism, in investment, you know? We could make it more like a partnership - solidarity instead of charity."

The objection is surprisingly right wing! It repels tourists and investors.

That's different from the usual criticism from the left — that Band Aid is "colonial" and "more about making white people feel good than helping anyone."

"At Christmas time, we let in light and we banish shame."

"There are people who enjoy dressing up and going out for a special night."

Said David Fisk, president and chief executive of The Charlotte Symphony, quoted in "Arts Galas Show That Extravagance Never Goes Out of Style/They are costly, labor-intensive and seemingly dated, but cultural organizations say black-tie dinners remain essential to pleasing donors and paying the bills" (NYT)(free-access link).

Yes, I'm expending one of my 10 gift links of the month on this thing. I selected the quote in the title because that one guy said what I was thinking the whole time I was reading the article: Rich women need events to which they can wear expensive evening gowns. But I'm sending you over there so you can see some gowns (and lavishly set tables and fussily arrayed foods). I don't want you to miss that absolutely crazy photograph by Michelle Groskopft that I'll just excerpt a bit of so you can find it:

Rich women have needs, and arts associations need their money.

The other reason you should go there is to look at the numbers — how much is spent to put on the event and how much is netted. And read the comments, e.g., "This type of article is useful for showing the magnitude of the excess. The cost vs gain. This is about vanity, greed and self-promotion. The attendees don’t care about the art or the causes. If they did, they’d write checks and forgo the snow crab."

They may not care about "the art," but they care about art — the art of their own self-presentation. An audience is needed for that art — the hair, the makeup, the plastic surgery, the jewelry, the fingernails, the shoes, the gowns. Without all that would it even be worth amassing riches in the first place? 

"It is a very cold home. It’s early March, and within 20 minutes of being here the tips of some of my fingers have turned white."

"This, they explain, is part of living their values: as effective altruists, they give everything they can spare to charity (their charities). 'Any pointless indulgence, like heating the house in the winter, we try to avoid if we can find other solutions,' says Malcolm. This explains Simone’s clothing: her normal winterwear is cheap, high-quality snowsuits she buys online from Russia, but she can’t fit into them now, so she’s currently dressing in the clothes pregnant women wore in a time before central heating: a drawstring-necked chemise on top of warm underlayers, a thick black apron, and a modified corset she found on Etsy. She assures me she is not a tradwife. 'I’m not dressing trad now because we’re into trad, because before I was dressing like a Russian Bond villain. We do what’s practical.'..."

From a Guardian article with a long headline: "America’s premier pronatalists on having ‘tons of kids’ to save the world: ‘There are going to be countries of old people starving to death’/ Elon Musk (father of 11) supports their cause. Thousands follow their ideology. Malcolm and Simone Collins are on a mission to make it easier for everyone to have multiple children. But are they really model parents?"

"To get yourself into SBF’s mindset, consider whether you would play the following godlike game for real."

"In this game, there’s a 51 percent chance that you create another Earth but also a 49 percent chance that you destroy all human life. If you’re using expected value thinking, and if you think that human life has positive value, you must play this game. SBF said he would play this game. And he said he would keep playing it, double or nothing, over and over again. With expected value thinking, the slightly higher chance of creating more value requires endlessly risking the annihilation of humanity. Expected value is why SBF constantly played video games, even while Zooming with investors. He calculated that he could add the pleasure of the game to the value of the calls. The key to understanding SBF is that he plays people like they’re games too. With his long-suffering EA girlfriend, her expected value went up when he wanted sex and then down right afterward.... This is the perfection of the EA philosophy: Maximize the value of the use of any given resource. And aren’t other people resources that can produce value?"

Writes Leif Wenar, in "The Deaths of Effective Altruism/Sam Bankman-Fried is finally facing punishment. Let’s also put his ruinous philosophy on trial" (Wired).

"After two more sell-out shows... it’s the last night of my prom. I have to be realistic, I’m on my way out."

"The average life expectancy is 83 and with a bit of luck I’ll make that, but we need someone else to drive things. I’m not leaving [Teenage Cancer Trust] — I’ve been a patron since I first met the charity’s founders.... more than 30 years ago — and that will continue, but I’ll be working in the back room, talking to government, rattling cages."

Writes Roger Daltrey, who is now 80, in "Roger Daltrey’s backstage diary — and a farewell to organising 24 years of concerts" (London Times).

I've loved The Who since before they released their first album in the United States, but there's always somebody hearing about them for the first time:

"Their recent mission was simple, but strenuous: hike several miles into the mountains near the border, and leave supplies in well-traveled areas..."

"... where a migrant in need would easily be able to spot them. Plastic bags of food and clothing were positioned in little piles along the informal route, dated and adorned with short messages from the volunteers: 'Con mucho amor' and 'Buena suerte.' The border wall, which in California is sometimes made up of towering steel slats, and then tapers out entirely when the rugged landscape becomes a natural barrier, was a felt but unseen presence in the distance. As the volunteers climbed higher into the mountains and closer to the border, hoisting themselves up rock faces and scrambling down scrubby hills, they spotted many signs of life, including weathered shirts and hats, empty water bottles and wrappers from Mexican-brand candy...."

From "The fight to save lives in the treacherous California desert: ‘A broken ankle is a death sentence’/Hundreds of migrants die during southern border crossings each year. Volunteers are hiking for miles to support them" (The Guardian).

"Will this scatter the Effective Altruism herd? Or will they bleat that he Did It Wrong, and the movement can never fail only be failed by the weak, &c.?"

A good question, asked in the Metafilter discussion, "Jury finds Sam Bankman-Fried guilty."

That made me notice that I hadn't heard much about effective altruism lately (but isn't it always hard to notice what is not being said?).

I went looking for recent SBF stories that talked about effective altruism. Hard to find anything — that is, I found the absence of talk — but I did find this at CoinDesk: "Sam Bankman-Fried Demonstrates Ineffective Altruism at Its Worst/The road to hell is paved with good intentions."

That sounds like it's going to be the he-did-it-wrong "bleat" that the Metafilter commenter was predicting, but it's not:

"NY Times columnist Michelle Goldberg has written a defense of Ibram Kendi which is probably the least convincing thing you’ll read today."

"To be clear, I don’t think the problem is with Goldberg, who is a decent writer when she has a meaty story to work on. The problem in this case is that attempting to blame Kendi’s problems on 'the system' just isn’t credible.... If the left wasn’t so driven by fads and celebrity, this wouldn’t have happened. Why wouldn’t it have happened? Because Kendi never would have been given all of that money in the first place. This is the best defense she can come up with. It’s not Kendi’s fault he was unprepared and undisciplined, it’s everyone else’s fault for believing in him.... But Goldberg’s readers just aren’t buying it. There are so many good responses here I’m not sure where to begin...."

Writes John Sexton (at Hot Air)(with lots of quotes from NYT readers).

Here's the Goldberg column: "Ibram X. Kendi and the Problem of Celebrity Fund-Raising."

"A 'Cage Match' Between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg May Be No Joke/Talks over a matchup between the two tech billionaires have progressed and the parameters of an event are taking shape."

This is an article in the NYT, and I'm annoyed at myself for spending the time to try to understand what is going on. These 2 showboats want our attention, and now I'm checking to see just how old, tall, and heavy each of them is and what that means in a "cage match."

Ugh. I don't like thinking about either of these men's bodies, but now I know Musk is 6'1.5" and Zuckerberg is only 5'7". Zuckerberg weighs 155 and Musk is anywhere from 30 to 70 pounds heavier, so he's something like 2 weight classes higher than Zuckerberg. Musk is 12 years older, and maybe Musk is less in shape:

Are you following the pretty formidable coalition with neofascist leanings?

To those misunderstanding what he’s saying, he’s NOT agreeing to debate @RobertKennedyJr. He’s just offering to come on my show by himself.

— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) June 18, 2023

The man is refusing to debate because he stands so firmly on SCIENCE. Isn't it funny that he bandies about a slur like "coalition with neofascist leanings"? Don't you have to at least act as though you're devoted to truth and reason if you want to win on the ground that you're the scientist?

If you haven't been  following this, here's a NY Post article that might help: "Joe Rogan challenges Dr. Peter Hotez to debate anti-vaxxer RFK Jr. on his podcast."