With the media targeting his wife, Bill Ackman turns up the heat on the universities. [The Rude Awakening] January 08, 2024 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Harvard: Property of the US Government? [Sean Ring] SEAN
RING Dear Reader, Does the US taxpayer have a claim on America’s universities, even one as elite as Harvard? Perhaps I’m falling down a rabbit hole, but hear me out. After all, it’s happened before… The Dissolution of the Monasteries was a significant event in English history between 1536 and 1541 during the reign of King Henry VIII. It formally disbanded monasteries, priories, convents, and friaries in England, Wales, and Ireland. There were a few reasons behind it. For one thing, there was a growing sentiment against what was seen as the corrupt practices of the Catholic Church, including the monasteries. Henry VIII also wanted to consolidate his power and reduce the influence of the Church, which was a significant power in its own right. By dissolving the monasteries, Henry could gain more direct control over religious and political matters in his realm. Finally, and most significantly, the monasteries were incredibly wealthy and owned vast land. By dissolving them, Henry VIII could confiscate their wealth and property, which significantly bolstered the royal treasury and allowed him to reward his supporters with lands and titles. History may be rhyming again. After Friday’s Rude concerning [Elon Musk]( let’s turn our attention to Bill Ackman and his crusade against Harvard’s poor leadership. Bill Ackman Versus Harvard [I once wrote Bill Ackman owned “Wall Street’s most punchable face.”]( Ackman, 57, is the billionaire CEO of the Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund. He did his undergraduate degree and MBA at Harvard. Ackman is Jewish and a Zionist. (Despite what they tell you nowadays, not all Jews are Zionists. And funnily enough, not all Zionists are Jewish.) Ackman was appalled that then-President Claudine Gay allowed Harvard students to walk around campus, blaming Israel for the October 8th Hamas invasion. He immediately put all his considerable resources at his disposal and tried to have Gay removed as Harvard's president. This was before any of the plagiarism charges were leveled against Gay. Of course, once it was plain Gay plagiarized her doctoral dissertation, Ackman piled on further pressure. I agree with Ackman on all this. Gay was a disgrace to the university and had to be removed. Ackman’s Wife Plagiarized, Too. Then came the retaliation. Zsa Zsa Gabor once said, “No rich man is ugly.” Following that proclamation, Neri Osman dumped Brad Pitt and married Bill Ackman. From [Wikipedia]( In 2006, Oxman launched an interdisciplinary research project at MIT called material ecology, to experiment with generative design. She became a professor at MIT in 2010, founding the interdisciplinary Mediated Matter group at the MIT Media Lab, and was awarded tenure in 2017. Osman was found to have missed quotation marks in her MIT dissertation and, therefore, to have plagiarized. From [The Wall Street Journal]( Oxman apologized and conceded that she “omitted quotation marks” in four paragraphs in the 330-page paper, even as she did credit her sources in her end notes and bibliography. “This wasn’t a question of stealing someone else’s ideas,” Mr. Ackman says, “but eight missing quotation marks.” Ackman accused Business Insider, the website founded by Henry Blodget, who himself is permanently barred from the securities industry, of not fighting fairly. As a father and husband, I’m tempted to side with Ackman. But his wife is a professor; how he didn’t expect them to fight dirty is beyond me. I also suspect that he thought his brilliant wife would know how to use quotation marks correctly. [Robert Sterling tweeted:]( Going after @BillAckman’s wife is one of the dumbest moves I’ve ever seen. MIT and Business Insider don’t understand the force of nature that’s about to come after them. This guy literally beat out Brad Pitt competing for his wife. While you were losing sleep over not having toilet paper during Covid, he was making $2.6B shorting the entire economy. The dude is just built different. Ackman is righteously pissed off. He’s motivated. He’s rich af, and he’s got some of the best research analysts in the world working for him (I worked in military intelligence, and DOD/IC analysts don’t come close to Wall Street short-sellers when it comes to autistically meticulous research). You think Gen Z clickbait journalists and MIT deans more comfortable in chemistry labs than in tense board-room proxy fights are ready for a guy like this once he gets on the war path? Yeah, right. Others were quick to point out Ackman’s hypocrisy. [Bill Ackman Tweet] Credit: [@nntaleb]( [Artnews headline] Credit: [@MaxBlumenthal]( The DEI folks won’t give up without a fight. But they may have picked a fight with the wrong dog. [Biden Admin Furious Over This New âAlternativeâ Currency]( [What you see here is a new “alternative” currency that’s taking America by storm…]( One which could ruin Biden’s CBDC plans. It’s already popping across the nation… including Utah, New Hampshire and Nevada. [If you’re worried about Biden Bucks then you must watch this short 2-minute video that breaks down how this “alternative” currency works…]( [Click Here To Learn More]( A USG Takeover for Harvard? I ask one question, past the immediate repercussions: what if, at the end of all this, universities are indeed found to be flawed and nationalized? What if the USG dissolves them and takes over their assets? That’s why I brought up Henry VIII and his actions at the beginning of this piece. After all, despite Harvard’s $50 billion endowment, the USG still gives it over $1 billion per year. Can leftists with a straight face oppose a government takeover? If Henry VIII could take over the monasteries for their vast wealth, could Joe Biden’s government do the same? Would a second Trump administration even hesitate to do it if it could? Wrap Up I get what Ackman is doing and support his move to make academia more merit-based. I like that he’s attacking MIT in retaliation for outing his wife. (That’s what men do. Sorry, not sorry.) But it would be hilarious to me if Ackman inadvertently caused not more academic freedom but a government takeover of universities. This could be the excuse the USG needs. Henry VIII would laugh his fat ass off from the Great Beyond. Have a great week ahead. All the best, [Sean Ring] Sean Ring
Editor,
X (formerly Twitter): [@seaniechaos]( In Case You Missed It… Elon Versus The Wine Box Women [Sean Ring] SEAN
RING Imagine, for a second, if Elon Musk didn’t buy Twitter. What wouldn’t we know about? For a start, we’d never know what a serial plagiarist former Harvard President Claudine Gay was. @jack’s Twitter Stasi would’ve suspended all accounts accusing Gay of plagiarism, and the story never would’ve come to light. Epstein’s client list would’ve remained hidden as well. But since Elon hasn’t been anywhere near Epstein’s godforsaken island, he’s all too happy to let the list get out in the public domain. Still have idiot friends who think Donald Trump is a “white supremacist?” Then show them this video, [courtesy of]( Wire Plus]( [Rude Awakening] Credit: [@michaelmalice]( All these stories would be buried if not for Elon and his “town square.” [Mashable]( reports that Fidelity, an investor in X, believes the company is worth 71.5% less than what Musk paid for it. To which I reply, thank heavens Elon can take that kind of pain! Because suffering those kinds of losses is painful. Of course, I think it’s worth it. Truth is priceless. But my sentiments and five bucks will get you a latte at Starbucks. Luckily, the man with the world’s largest wallet agrees with me. Elon Musk pays for the truth for all of us. [[Revealed!] New AI Opportunity Bigger Than The PC?]( Just imagine being able to turn back the clock to the 1980s – right as a new technology known as the PC was getting its start… Seeing the promise of the PC – and captivated by Microsoft’s technology – an early investor decides to put in $500 during the company’s IPO in 1986. As of today, that $500 investment would have turned into a fortune worth over $1.6 MILLION. I bring this up because we are at the dawn of a new innovation which could be even BIGGER than the PC. [I’m talking about artificial intelligence, or AI](. According to Yahoo Finance, “we are on the cusp of a technological revolution that will fundamentally change how we live our lives.” And you have the chance to invest on the ground floor… [Click here now to see the 3 tiny AI stocks best positioned to profit](. [Click Here To Learn More]( Telling Bob Iger To F*ck Off Disney CEO Bob Iger is ending his career in ignominy. His inability to fire Kathleen Kennedy for utterly destroying Star Wars and Indiana Jones is ludicrous. If you haven’t seen the South Park episode lampooning Disney, you ought to. [Here’s a taster.]( swallow your coffee before you watch it. Kevin Feige is clearly out of ideas at Marvel. You may not care about that kid’s stuff at all. [Variety]( the failures here if you fancy how bad it is.]( The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), or M-She-U, as Nerdrotic refers to it, is over. Pixar and Disney Animation have been terrible lately, as well. Combine that with falling theme park revenue, and it’s been horrible for DIS shareholders for the last three years. [Awakening] And what does Iger do? He stops advertising on X. Stupid. From [The Verge]( on Musk’s comments during the DealBook conference: “I hope they stop. Don’t advertise,” Musk told interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin. “If somebody is going to try to blackmail me with advertising, blackmail me with money, go f*ck yourself. Go f*ck yourself. Is that clear? I hope it is.” He singled out Disney CEO Bob Iger, who discussed not wanting Disney to be affiliated with Musk while onstage earlier in the day. “Hey Bob, if you’re in the audience.” Quelle courage! Destroying the DEI Cult Thanks to Claudine Gay getting outed as a marker of plagiaristic mediocrity, many purple-haired, childless, and single Human Resources executives will be looking for a job soon. The “Wine Box Women” might have to “learn to code.” Most knew many wrong people were in the wrong jobs but wouldn’t say it for fear of a mob lynching. [I wrote about Gay on Wednesday]( so I won’t beat that horse again. But it’s worth noting Musk’s reaction on X: [Awakening] Influence on Public Discourse and Free Speech Musk once referred to himself as a “free speech absolutist,” and he’s been true to his word so far. His position on free speech is rooted in the idea that open dialogue and exchanging ideas are crucial for societal progress. He often criticizes censorship and advocates for minimal interference in public discourse, especially on social media platforms. This stance contrasts with what he perceives as the overreach of tech companies in moderating content, which he argues stifles open and honest discussion. Musk's acquisition of Twitter in 2022 was driven mainly by these beliefs. He expressed concerns about Twitter's content moderation policies and proposed changes to promote more open and less restricted communication on the platform. Musk argues for a more lenient approach to content moderation, believing that barring illegal content, a wide range of viewpoints should be allowed, even if they are controversial or unpopular. However, Musk's position on free speech is not without its critics. Some argue that an overly permissive approach to content moderation could spread misinformation, hate speech, and harmful content. There are concerns - especially from Democrats - about the balance between protecting free speech and ensuring online spaces are not used to propagate harmful or false information. Pissing Off The EU And now, for my favorite… In our corner, free speech champion Elon Musk intends to make Twitter a bastion for free expression, even in Europe. His approach typically favors minimal content moderation, aligning with his belief that open discourse is vital for democracy. This stance became particularly significant after he acquired X, as he hinted at significant changes to the platform's content moderation policies, including reinstating previously banned accounts and reducing restrictions on what users can post. In the other corner, the European Union has been actively working on robust digital regulation to combat perceived online harms. The EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) and Digital Markets Act (DMA) are pieces of legislation aimed at ensuring a “safer” digital space, with strict rules for large online platforms. I imagine this safety is vital for Europe’s incompetent politicians. These regulations require platforms to remove illegal content swiftly, be transparent about their content moderation practices, and protect user rights, including the right to free speech. However, I’m unsure how moderation squares with the freedom of speech. The EU's concerns with Musk's vision for X are centered around the potential increase in harmful or illegal content if moderation policies are relaxed. EU officials have warned that X, like other major platforms, would be obligated to comply with these rules under the new regulations or face hefty fines and sanctions. Musk's free speech absolutism approach is at odds with the EU's stance on regulated and responsible speech on digital platforms. In essence, the conflict represents a broader debate about the balance between free speech and regulation in the digital age. Musk’s ideology emphasizes the dangers of over-regulation and censorship, while the EU focuses on the risks of unchecked speech, including the spread of misinformation and hate speech. This kerfuffle highlights the challenges global tech companies face in navigating different regulatory environments and the complexities of moderating content on platforms that span multiple jurisdictions with varying free speech norms and regulations. Wrap Up I’m grateful Musk is taking on this monumental task. Reading the tripe on the CBS, ABC, NBC, BBC, CBC, and CNN feeds is laughable. It’s not news. They spout propaganda scripted by their masters in DC, Brussels, and London. If we didn’t have Musk and his seemingly inexhaustible resources, we wouldn’t have a clue what’s going on. Now, that’s the kind of dutiful charity I support. Have a wonderful weekend! All the best, [Sean Ring] Sean Ring
Editor,
Twitter: [@seaniechaos]( [Paradigm]( ☰ ⊗
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