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Jeffrey Epstein and MIT: FAQs

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Re: Jeffrey Epstein and MIT: FAQs

#321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Epstein was, by all accounts, absolutely obsessed with sex and abusing underaged girls. One of his victims described the abuse he and Ghislaine Maxwell committed as "a full time job." So the question is, was he more or less restrained in broadcasting his proclivities in the early 2000s before his first conviction? And, was he more or less restrained on his private island which was essentially constructed for the purp…

You're correct about this but sadly getting downvoted. People have a hard time processing that their heroes very likely knew about Epstein's activities and at the very least looked the other way (some definitely participated themselves). Gates, Hawking, Groenig... all have their fans that will defend them to the death. The evidence is there though for those that care to look. As you say, Epstein couldn't not talk abo…

I love that the charitable interpretation of Minksy's behavior is "an underaged girl propositioned him for sex on Epstein's island and he said 'no,' but then continued to associate and organize symposia with Epstein even after his 2008 conviction."

Wow, let's not go overboard with the guilt-by-association here!

Re: Jeffrey Epstein and MIT: FAQs

#322
post #66

1) Negroponte responded: “I know him quite well. The person who is his closest friend is Marvin Minsky, who even visited him in jail. I would take Berlusconi’s money, so why not Jeff.” (By March 2013, Berlusconi, the former Prime Minister of Italy, had been accused of hiring underaged prostitutes and dating underaged girls.) 2)“I’ve also talked to Nicholas [Negroponte] as well who had met him and he also agrees that…

Age of consent in Italy is 14, like many other European countries. Underage prostitutes not.

I think "14" is reasonably understood as "underaged girl" even if there are countries where the age of consent is that low. At any rate "it was technically not illegal in such-and-such jurisdiction" is hardly a robust defense of middle-aged men "dating" girls barely in their teens.

Re: Jeffrey Epstein and MIT: FAQs

#323
post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Normally one would give the benefit of the doubt, but given the abhorrent acts people were perpetrating or turning a blind eye to in this case, I'm inclined not to. I think this is a dangerous way to look at things... Just because there's a lot of shady people doing awful things, doesn't mean we should tar everyone who associated with the person. Whatever other things happened with other people doesn't really matte…

seriously. When I was young I used to wonder how in the hell the Salem Witch Trials ever happened. It boggled my mind. I don't wonder about how it happened anymore, I've seen it so many times it's old hat now. I mean what next, anyone who takes a jet with Bill Clinton is having sex with an intern?

Yes, imagine thinking that people who rode on a jet where children were routinely raped, or who associated with a man convicted of soliciting underaged girls for prostitution, might have been involved or known about it themselves! It's exactly the same thing as 17th century hysterics who believed women were possessed by literal demons.

Re: Jeffrey Epstein and MIT: FAQs

#324
post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't know the private island had a landing strip large enough for a private jet!

It doesn't have any runway. You fly into St. Thomas, then take a boat (or submarine as Hawking did) over to the island.

Which was enough contact for the Virgin Islands locals to start referring to Little Saint James as "Pedophile Island." How much did people who actually went to the island see?

Re: Jeffrey Epstein and MIT: FAQs

#325
post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a random visualization attempt: "Everyone in this room, stand up. Every second we're going to count a million dollars. If your net worth is less than that amount, sit down." Most people will sit down in a second or two. Some might last ten seconds. A billionaire will still be standing 16 minutes later. Every second, a million dollars ticking away. TWO DAYS later, you're getting to the richest people in the world.…

One day, in your setup, is 86bn (plus change). By Wikipedia data, the richest person is Jeff Bezos with 113bn. So who are the two-day-ers? Poorest of them must have almost 173bn, who are those?

That’s on me - I forgot about Bezos divorce. Before that he was pushing 160B.

Re: Jeffrey Epstein and MIT: FAQs

#326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't have any runway. You fly into St. Thomas, then take a boat (or submarine as Hawking did) over to the island.

Which was enough contact for the Virgin Islands locals to start referring to Little Saint James as "Pedophile Island." How much did people who actually went to the island see?

Yeah, VI locals all call it that and have for a long time. It's hard to imagine anyone passing through to the island wouldn't have heard about the scene there. But who knows. Even when we hear stories from people who claim not to have participated they'll often have stories about seeing very young girls doing stuff like propositioning people. We know from the flight logs of the Lolita Express that young girls were on flights with major personalities who surely must have thought it odd and wondered what underage teen girls were doing on the flights as hostesses.

Re: Jeffrey Epstein and MIT: FAQs

#327
post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. I'm just pointing out that there's a lot of conspiracy theories trying to link people who had at best tangential relationships with Epstein with his demise, but somehow manage to ignore that literally the most powerful man on planet Earth had a lot to lose from Epstein's indiscretions becoming public. It's interesting how conspiracy theories seem to always have a very particular... 'conservative' bias.

So the Russian collusion conspiracy is a "conservative" bias. That's pretty interesting.

I don't want to use HN to discuss politics, but notice that the 'Russian collusion conspiracy' is not a conspiracy theory. Donald Trump Jr himself published the emails setting up a meeting with a Russian lawyer which - he admitted - was supposed to yield information that'd help his father in the election. That makes it the very definition of a real conspiracy, right?

Re: Jeffrey Epstein and MIT: FAQs

#328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would Epstein get from Lloyd? If Epstein was in fact blackmailing the rich and famous, or running a sex trafficking operation for profit, how does he benefit from supplying donations (and whatever else he allegedly supplied) to a quantum computing professor?

Epstein was most likely backed by Israel, so you should ask what they would want with quantum computing.

So your accusation is that Epstein blackmailed Seth Lloyd or converted him into an Israeli spy/consultant on quantum computing?

Many engineering professors consult with private companies for a fee. So it seems odd that a country would need to take a roundabout and scandalous approach like this to pick a professor's brain, when they could just work though a legitimate-seeming company as an intermediary.

Re: Jeffrey Epstein and MIT: FAQs

#329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Epstein was most likely backed by Israel, so you should ask what they would want with quantum computing.

So your accusation is that Epstein blackmailed Seth Lloyd or converted him into an Israeli spy/consultant on quantum computing? Many engineering professors consult with private companies for a fee. So it seems odd that a country would need to take a roundabout and scandalous approach like this to pick a professor's brain, when they could just work though a legitimate-seeming company as an intermediary.

We don't know what Epstein and his backers were after. Maybe Seth Lloyd had influence over someone or some other leverage they wanted. It definitely warrants further investigation though.

Re: Jeffrey Epstein and MIT: FAQs

#330
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Irrespective of the trueness or falseness of this, it is completely off-topic.

This comment is downvoted, but shouldn't be: "Epstein didn't kill himself" clearly is off-topic for the thread, and the resulting "discussion" ate the whole thread. 'zamalek is absolutely right.

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