#437 - the Bohemian Club, Elon's Twitter ingredients, and cops for legalization
I was invited to the Bohemian Club by a member this week, so Thursday found me in a jacket and tie, assiduously not checking my phone as ordered and looking conspicuous as one of the few (still all white) men under 40, or even 50.
Yes, that Bohemian Club, the one founded in 1872 by journalists, co opted since by conservative businessmen, with membership across most past US presidents and leaders of industry, endlessly lampooned by the media for being able to pee wherever they want on their 2700 acres in Mendocino, and endlessly hated by conspiracists who think it's the literal Illuminati.
All I saw was a bunch of friendly old white guys carousing in the most tricked out 6 story social club I'd ever seen, abiding by their Shakespearean motto 'weaving spiders come not here' to not talk about work or cut deals at the club. It felt like a heartwarming half theater half business retiree frat - though I'm sure there's plenty I didn't see in my limited visit.
And they really do have to work on diversity - I agree the world does need exclusively male spaces, but they sure don't need to be exclusively white, especially with all that power.
I am jealous of their giant rock owl sculpture and fire ceremonies though!
Tech
Elon Musk Buys Twitter — www.youtube.com
The big news this week was Elon buying Twitter of course, and my favorite Twitch streamer Atrioc laid out all the relevant facts in this entertaining and comprehensive video. TLDR: it was in distress already, he bought it with debt so is gonna gun for profitability, and the leadership probably blocked it for fear of losing their jobs.
Could Elon Musk Have Solved World Hunger Instead of Buying Twitter? — www.newsweek.com
Amidst that news, all sorts of new anti-Elon social factoids are popping up - so do your research.
The quip about him buying Twitter instead of solving world hunger has a grain of truth to it - but the UN never told him how he could solve world hunger as requested - just to feed everyone on Earth for a year. That's a significant difference.
Lifehacks
How Drug Gangs Actually Work | How Crime Works — www.youtube.com
This Insider series is fascinating, that gets former criminals to describe the mechanics of how their vocations work. This eloquent former undercover cop is now campaigns for legalization, to take power out of the gangs hands.
e got disheartened after a multi month sting that nabbed 96 gangsters... and only disrupted the drug trade for two hours as the competitor stepped up.
Fun
Fu Manchu - Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org
There's a lot to unpack in this Wikipedia article behind the mustache.
The origin character story came from when the author's Ouija board spelled C-H-I-N-A-M-A-N when he asked it what would make his fortune. Also was based in part on magician Chung Ling Soo, "a white man in Mandarin costume and pigtail who died in a failed bullet catch trick”.