The ultra-rich

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This week, the ultra-rich are making headlines for how they’ve gone about spending the billions that they’ve made over the pandemic. Many of them have purchased superyachts, driving sales for the mega-ships to record-highs in 2021. Jeff Bezos, the world’s most notorious superyacht customer, has a new ship, Y721, that is so large that a historic bridge in the Netherlands will have to be temporarily dismantled in order to let it pass.

But billionaires aren’t just buying yachts – they’re buying politicians as well. Billionaires have spent generously this cycle, particularly through SuperPACS, in hopes of shaping future legislation. Politicians like Senators Manchin and Sinema may not be up for re-election, but they have nonetheless attracted billionaire backing by successfully roadblocking President Biden’s legislative agenda. (Patriotic Millionaires)

My comment: And the above is written by a millionaire, which shows that some of them are civilized, caring people.

Oligarchs

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The US economic sanctions against Russian oligarchs will have some effect, but unfortunately probably won’t go far enough to stop Putin in his tracks. Most of the richest Russians – like Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov – who famously hold assets in the West will go largely unaffected by sanctions. Most oligarch wealth (both Russian and otherwise) is held offshore in tax haven countries more protected from government intervention.

By one estimate, Russian oligarchs have stashed more than $800 billion of their wealth in countries like the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Cyprus, meaning these sanctions have many of the same limitations of modern tax enforcement – we can’t get to their money without further international cooperation. (Patriotic Millionaires 5 March 2022)

My comment: Moral- being a petty thief is pointless and liable to end in prison. For the freedom to bribe your way through life, become an oligarch (if you survive without other, jealous crooks doing away with you). Me, I can’t understand why anyone wants or feels they need billions or the thought processes of the outrageous crook while amassing them.

I had to read this twice. Where do these people come from?

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The mayor of Hudson, Ohio, has resigned after warning that allowing ice fishing on a local lake could lead to prostitution. Mayor Craig Schubert, 65, told the City Council that authorizing “ice shanties” could lead to an “unintended consequence”—shacks built for sex work. In resigning, Schubert said his concern was “based on my prior television news-reporting experience.” (The Week, Feb 25, 2022)

My comment: The US seems to generate more crazy stories (or crazy people stories) than anywhere else on the planet. Could it be the diet?

Good grammar not vital for stories?

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Education experts have found that grammar lessons may help children construct sentences, but not their ability to write stories. The team behind the study, which is believed to be the first of its kind, told The Times that their findings challenged the idea that primary school children should be taught about grammatical constructs such as subordinate clauses, adverbials and modal verbs.

The Department for Education is not planning to drop grammar from the curriculum any time soon: a spokesperson told the paper that “good grammar is central to achieving our target”. (The Week, 2 March 2022)

My comment: “Education experts have found that grammar lessons may help children construct sentences, but not their ability to write stories.” Dear, oh dear! Yes, fellas, constructing stories is rather important, I would suggest. Does it help the imagination? Not much, but that is a totally different thing. A good story is built out of an imaginative brain. Grammar is the scaffolding.