Joi Ito Resigns from M.I.T. Media Lab After Outcry over Jeffrey Epstein Ties • Hacker News Board

Re: Joi Ito Resigns from M.I.T. Media Lab After Outcry over Jeffrey Epstein Ties

#251

Post by rosser » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 11:01 PM UTC

matz1 wrote: post #248

rosser wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about: 3. Normalization of people who commit transgressive acts. Once again, for the nosebleed seats: this whole argument is about how the Media Lab's taking Epstein's money, and welcoming him on the premises, conveys the message, "Well, he can't be that bad." Remember how we follow the behavior of people more than their words, in determining what is and isn't acceptable? When people tell us one thing, and behave…

> 3. Normalization of people who commit transgressive acts. This could happen if the law enforcement let it happen. The question you should ask is why he is not already in jail since the transgressive act in question is already is illegal. Media Lab is not in position to put someone in jail or charge someone a crime.

I'm well aware of which questions I should be asking about this situation. They aren't those.

Thanks for your time. I don't see further discussion going anywhere new.

Re: Joi Ito Resigns from M.I.T. Media Lab After Outcry over Jeffrey Epstein Ties

#252

Post by totalZero » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 11:02 PM UTC

cybersnowflake wrote: post #138

[flagged]

Unfortunate that this comment is not trendy.

People are out here acting like accepting a donation means you are complicit in unrelated crimes by the donor.

Re: Joi Ito Resigns from M.I.T. Media Lab After Outcry over Jeffrey Epstein Ties

#253

Post by chmaynard » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 11:03 PM UTC

bogomipz wrote: post #50

>'In an email in October 2014 — six years after Mr. Epstein had pleaded guilty to a sex charge involving a minor in Florida — Mr. Ito wrote that a $2 million gift from Mr. Gates was “directed by Jeffrey Epstein.” Peter Cohen, then a development official at the lab, wrote in a subsequent email, “For gift recording purposes, we will not be mentioning Jeffrey’s name as the impetus for this gift.” Mr. Cohen, now the dire…

More heads will roll. Be patient.

Re: Joi Ito Resigns from M.I.T. Media Lab After Outcry over Jeffrey Epstein Ties

#254

Post by nf8nnfufuu » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 11:03 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #240

nf8nnfufuu wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general, old rich men have no special powers over young women. It seems conceivable that usually, they choose to be around him of their own free will. Otherwise, please explain what special powers old rich men would have over young women.

> Otherwise, please explain what special powers old rich men would have over young women. The power that comes from being rich, well connected, parading powerful friends (even judges, politicians, financiers, and so on), aides, bodyguards, the means to have them beaten or killed if you want to, and so on? The power to get them fired from their jobs? The powerful to do "Eyes Wide Shut" level shit to them and them know…

So you assume every time young women are staying with an old rich man, they have been extorted to do so?

Sorry, that seems extremely unlikely. I find it shocking that you think that way.

Just because somebody is rich also doesn't mean they can simply destroy other people's lives at will.

Btw I have personally witnessed for example young women courting old professors, who certainly didn't have any power to destroy their life. They did have some power to further their career, though.

Expect: yes, I think in most cases it is simply that the young women expect some advantage from the rich guy. Maybe just material things, or maybe just more fun. Maybe they enjoy riding on yachts more than riding on skateboards, or whatever.

Re: Joi Ito Resigns from M.I.T. Media Lab After Outcry over Jeffrey Epstein Ties

#255

Post by liability » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 11:04 PM UTC

nf8nnfufuu wrote: post #238

liability wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well in assuming good faith I assume he read the article, which should have cleared up any such misunderstandings...

I've read about the first half, which didn't mention that Epstein was already convicted for sex trafficking by the time he arrived at MIT in that story. It didn't occur to me that he would be walking around freely doing deals if he had already been convicted. I didn't have the information that he was let off the hook and there was also no indication I should google for something like that. What search term should I h…

You read the first half of what exactly? From the subtitle of the article you responded to:

> New documents show that the M.I.T. Media Lab was aware of Epstein’s status as a convicted sex offender, and that Epstein directed contributions to the lab far exceeding the amounts M.I.T. has publicly admitted.

What did you think "Epstein’s status as a convicted sex offender" meant? Are you earnestly confused, or are you trying to get a rise out of me?

Re: Joi Ito Resigns from M.I.T. Media Lab After Outcry over Jeffrey Epstein Ties

#256

Post by nf8nnfufuu » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 11:05 PM UTC

liability wrote: post #234

nf8nnfufuu wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general, old rich men have no special powers over young women. It seems conceivable that usually, they choose to be around him of their own free will. Otherwise, please explain what special powers old rich men would have over young women.

When the subject of discussion is a man known to be involved in human trafficking, being so trusting and naive does not a lick of good. You seem to be repeatedly ignoring the context of Epstein's criminal conviction.

No, this wasn't about Epstein, but about the general claim of rich old men having power over women.

Re: Joi Ito Resigns from M.I.T. Media Lab After Outcry over Jeffrey Epstein Ties

#257

Post by ryanlol » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 11:06 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #180

ryanlol wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of them?

I’m pretty sure most bars require you to be 21 (maybe 18 in Europe)?

And why would that exclude girls? Would “girls’ night out” be an unusual expression where you’re from?

Re: Joi Ito Resigns from M.I.T. Media Lab After Outcry over Jeffrey Epstein Ties

#258

Post by point78 » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 11:06 PM UTC

nf8nnfufuu wrote: post #15

jakelazaroff wrote: post #3

Good. Here’s a particularly damning passage from Ronan Farrow’s New Yorker article [1]: > According to Swenson, Ito had informed Cohen that Epstein “never goes into any room without his two female ‘assistants,’ ” whom he wanted to bring to the meeting at the Media Lab. Swenson objected to this, too, and it was decided that the assistants would be allowed to accompany Epstein but would wait outside the meeting room. >…

Sorry, I don't get it. Somebody having assistants who look like models and are from Eastern Europe is suspicious of trafficking women? How? Why? I have heard about Epstein, obviously with hindsight all sorts of things he did can be seen in a new light. I just don't understand what is so damning about the passage above. Would somebody who is trafficking women really take them everywhere he goes? I thought it would be…

A 60 year old American financier who's uglier than a frog has 2 teenage eastern european models as "assistants"....does that add up to you?

Re: Joi Ito Resigns from M.I.T. Media Lab After Outcry over Jeffrey Epstein Ties

#259

Post by tptacek » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 11:07 PM UTC

darawk wrote: post #222

tptacek wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm an Epstein Absolutist and feel Ito should have resigned way before Ronan Farrow's article was published, so yes, I think this is all very shady. I don't generally think people have a moral right to hold on to prominent directorships like the MIT Media Lab --- when you take that job†, I think you also undertake an ethical obligation to leave that post as soon as it becomes reasonable to say that your continued pre…

> when you take that job†, I think you also undertake an ethical obligation to leave that post as soon as it becomes reasonable to say that your continued presence is a distraction or disruption from the mission of the organization While that's all well and good when it's an issue you agree with, would you be willing to apply that standard in the other direction? If Joi Ito had created a controversy by standing on pr…

I think people who accept high-profile positions don't have a moral right to retain those positions. It may not always be the case that they have a moral obligation to abandon them at the first sign of trouble; the analysis will always be fact-specific. Here, I don't think there's much doubt. Ito should have left weeks ago. He had to know this was going to happen; the last few weeks of drama have come entirely at the Lab's expense, seemingly as a long-shot gamble that Ito might weather the storm.

Re: Joi Ito Resigns from M.I.T. Media Lab After Outcry over Jeffrey Epstein Ties

#260

Post by moron4hire » Sat, Sep 07, 2019, 11:08 PM UTC

esoterica wrote: post #210

moron4hire wrote: post #59

My mother works in the non-profit fundraising sector, originally centered on education, but now runs her own consultancy for non-profits of all sizes. She knows pretty much all the rules and laws about donations and propriety within fundraising foundations. I've helped her with her business, both in actual operations and for her IT concerns. I've also worked in other regulated industries, so I have a fair amount of f…

Jail for what? Accepting donations from a pedo is not a crime.

Hiding the information on from whom the donation came from is a crime. Even if the donor wants to be listed anonymously, you have to at least record in your database (and these foundations have extensive databases going back decades) who it came from.