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

nytimes.com

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

#561

Post by paganel »

anon2947 wrote: post #472
pryce wrote: post #340

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Xeni Jardin's claim below is true, Joi Ito needs to resign from more than just MIT: "I told the @nytimes everything. So did whistleblowers I was in touch with inside @MIT and @Edge. They printed none of the most damning truths. @joi is on the board of the NYT. THANK GOD FOR @RonanFarrow" EDIT: NYTimes is now indicating that Ito has resigned from NYT Co board, effective immediately [2]. [1] https://twitter.com/xeni…

I read a few more of Xeni's tweets, and wanted to get HN's honest opinion on them. It seems (to me) like a lot of people on Twitter (and HN?) are over-reacting. For example, Xeni's pinned tweet references this other tweet ( https://twitter.com/xeni/status/1165266579560521728 ), which implies that anybody who was ever at a dinner with Epstein should be considered complicit in Epstein's crimes. Take this quote, for exa…

Marvin Minsky was directly named by one of the victims in documents that were published a couple of days before Epatein’s convenient death, and those documents were mentioning that Minsky had directly sexually profited from an under-age woman. In other words he was a paedophile.

I submitted an article detailing all this stuff on the day of Epstein’s death, it had reached the top links of HN in less than an hour but then it was ominously flagged. I lost a great deal of let’s call it respect for the people that keep this website up, apparently letting other people know that a now dead AI luminary was a paedophile is considered tabu.

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

#562

Post by [deleted] »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #523
nullc wrote: post #512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are you aware that a woman has claimed that she was forced to have sex with Marvin Minsky by Epstein on his island? Yet the her deposition does not actually make that claim, but rather that she was directed to approach Minsky for sex. A third party witness reports that that he turned her down and was apparently complaining about the incident. https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/339725/ If you were not aware of these th…

I’m not worried about the privileged. They have every benefit and fortune at their backs. You should use the limited resources of your worry toward those more deserving and needful.

[deleted]

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

#563

Post by paganel »

nullc wrote: post #512
cjbprime wrote: post #501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Steven Pinker, Marvin Minsky It just sounds like you haven't been paying attention at all. Are you aware that a woman has claimed that she was forced to have sex with Marvin Minsky by Epstein on his island? https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/9/20798900/marvin-minsky-jef... Are you aware that Pinker has flown on the "Lolita Express" and helped with Epstein's legal defense, a legal defense that led to him avoiding a pri…

> Are you aware that a woman has claimed that she was forced to have sex with Marvin Minsky by Epstein on his island? Yet the her deposition does not actually make that claim, but rather that she was directed to approach Minsky for sex. A third party witness reports that that he turned her down and was apparently complaining about the incident. https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/339725/ If you were not aware of these th…

I’m 38 and afaik nobody has ever sent me underage women for me to have sex with them, that way I could have boasted to an external third party that “I refused”. When you’re 88 years old (so when biologically sex is one of the last things you should be thinking about) and when one of your close friends “sends” you an under-age woman that only means that that close friend of yours knew what you liked and what you were into. And make no mistake, Epstein was a friend of Minsky.

And I don’t buy this “it could happen to you, too”, because, again, afaik not me not anyone of my close friends has been sent “underage girls” as “gifts” (for one reason because we don’t befriend paedophile pseudo-billionaires).

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

#564

Post by CrazyStat »

nullc wrote: post #462
azinman2 wrote: post #455

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except they hid millions as an anonymous donor per the nymag article. That’s whats so damaging.

Gates denial on that looks pretty strong, but regardless the timeline is critical. Accepting millions from him in 2002 would be unremarkable.

The donations to the Media Lab under Ito, which are the issue here, were obviously post-criminal-conviction since Ito took over in 2011.

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

#565

Post by leereeves »

paganel wrote: post #563
nullc wrote: post #512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Are you aware that a woman has claimed that she was forced to have sex with Marvin Minsky by Epstein on his island? Yet the her deposition does not actually make that claim, but rather that she was directed to approach Minsky for sex. A third party witness reports that that he turned her down and was apparently complaining about the incident. https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/339725/ If you were not aware of these th…

I’m 38 and afaik nobody has ever sent me underage women for me to have sex with them, that way I could have boasted to an external third party that “I refused”. When you’re 88 years old (so when biologically sex is one of the last things you should be thinking about) and when one of your close friends “sends” you an under-age woman that only means that that close friend of yours knew what you liked and what you were…

> ... that only means that that close friend of yours knew what you liked and what you were into

That's the only possible explanation?

Perhaps Epstein wanted to ensnare Minsky in a situation that could be used to coerce him. That's consistent with Minsky turning her down, unlike your version.

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

#566

Post by paganel »

colechristensen wrote: post #560
cattlefarmer wrote: post #517

> This is well-known now. Please avoid this. Let me preface this by saying that I have no idea who Epstein is except that he's some rich, white guy that got caught up in some kind of sex scandal, was arrested and is now dead. I'm not belittling his acts nor ignoring his accusers, I'm saying that I did not know . Now let me explain why. Over the past couple of years, there have been non-stop stories of one powerful wh…

How can we expect the republic to survive if some of the most capable people try so actively to not pay attention to what's going on outside their bubble?

Because they’re too busy counting their money. We’re the lackeys of the mighty and powerful and when the “common people” sometime try to react to the visible power imbalances some of us feel the need to obey and defend our masters. Source: me, a desilusioned programmer approaching my 40s

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

#567

Post by CrazyStat »

meerita wrote: post #550
watwut wrote: post #547

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You said this: > It all highlights the difficult job facing people tasked with taking money from donors in this way. They won't always have 20/20 hindsight. It does not highlight that and no hindsight was needed. What was needed was to not go out of your way to conceal taking money you know you should not. You converted situation into completely different situation.

But in these cases, how do you know?

In this case you know because Epstein already had a criminal conviction and MIT had already blacklisted him as a donor.

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

#568

Post by [deleted] »

watwut wrote: post #555
lopmotr wrote: post #507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with a charity accepting donations from someone naughty? It doesn't make them complicit in their offences. Criminals often donate money to charities and victims in an effort to get reduced sentences, at least in my country.

Should rich criminal have ability to buy lesser sentence then poor criminal?

[deleted]

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

#569

Post by paganel »

leereeves wrote: post #565
paganel wrote: post #563

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m 38 and afaik nobody has ever sent me underage women for me to have sex with them, that way I could have boasted to an external third party that “I refused”. When you’re 88 years old (so when biologically sex is one of the last things you should be thinking about) and when one of your close friends “sends” you an under-age woman that only means that that close friend of yours knew what you liked and what you were…

> ... that only means that that close friend of yours knew what you liked and what you were into That's the only possible explanation? Perhaps Epstein wanted to ensnare Minsky in a situation that could be used to coerce him. That's consistent with Minsky turning her down, unlike your version.

What’s there left to coerce in an 88 year old who had been pretty happy to take photo shoots with Epstein before and whom the same Epstein had in his pocket based on the potential financial donations alone? All I’m saying is that Minsky’s influence was at that point behind him.

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

#570

Post by prepend »

dragonwriter wrote: post #345
prepend wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not sure how it’s misogynist. It’s a people watching activity that’s just a pastime. Similar to trying to tell narratives about people sitting near us in a cafe. Just because I’ll never know if someone really is a traveling archaeologist smuggling artifacts doesn’t mean I don’t derive pleasure in thinking through the thought. In the particular game of “prostitute or daughter” (also sometimes prostitute or son, al…

> I’m not sure how it’s misogynist. The assumptions about the dichotomy in the potential roles of women underlying the game are literally a textbook example of misogynist gender images.

I certainly don’t see that those are the only roles for women. But in a situation there it’s a 70 year old man/woman with a 25 year old who is not their spouse, I think those are the most likely options. The game also includes being able to rule out other relationship types just based on observation.

It’s also worth noting that these aren’t absolute characterizations but probabilistic. In no part of the game am I making some belief that the young women must be one or the other. But sadly/comically usually old rich dudes with young women who aren’t their daughter and they are acting romantically, it’s usually a prostitute, hopefully a consenting one.

It’s quite possible that I’m wrong in that maybe they’re married without rings or whatnot, but there’s no harm as they don’t know I’m going through this thought exercise, and I’ll rarely know if I guess right.

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