Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

townandcountrymag.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 191 posts

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#101

Post by clipsy »

chii wrote: post #98
an0malous wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would have never guessed that a significant portion of western society would not only be ok with killing thousands of children but be outraged that anyone would protest it. I feel like I have more information about the world than ever and understand it less than ever.

[flagged]

> How many children are dying/starved/killed in the sudan war? Why don't these same protests make the same kind of statements for that?

Because no one in our society is defending, supporting, or funding the killing of children in the Sudan war.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#102

Post by _bohm »

EngineerUSA wrote: post #97
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Almost nobody truly aware of the number of slaughtered and starved Palestinian children would be "okay" with it A lot of people aren’t okay with it but also choose not to engage on it.

If I ignore it, it is as if it never happened. Part of it is willful ignorance though. For Ross, he is deeply religious and views the security of Israel as that of the Jewish people (having a home to run away to if shit hits the fan). Children dying is a sacrifice he is willing to make. For the majority of America though, I believe they are a) either scared, because they saw a witch hunt orchestrated by people in pow…

Not that I'm anyone important, but at this point if I google someone and they show up on the Canary Mission website, I'm inclined to hold them in higher regard.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#103

Post by EngineerUSA »

chii wrote: post #98
an0malous wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would have never guessed that a significant portion of western society would not only be ok with killing thousands of children but be outraged that anyone would protest it. I feel like I have more information about the world than ever and understand it less than ever.

[flagged]

Sudan is a civil war. Ghaza is a genocide orchestrated by one group against another. It is completely different. The Syrian civil war claimed 500k lives. Civil wars are different and more complicated. In Ghaza, the bad actors are clear though. One of them is rightfully labeled for their war crimes. The other enjoys white house visits and the support of billionaires (Ackman), a diaspora that would excuse murder and cover for it. Just listen to bari Weiss, or those influencers that in Netanyahu's own words, must spread israeli propaganda at all costs. In a fair world, the israeli gov and the militias in ghaza would both be side by side at the Hague or in Guatanamo. The world does not work that way, for some are more equal than others, when rich backers in the West would put Israel first, and America and the free world last

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#104

Post by it_learnses »

greggh wrote: post #50

The real answer here is that he is mad about people protesting what Israel is doing in Gaza. This $100M donation is being made with funds he had given to UPenn. He has taken it back, via lawyers, because they allowed the protests to go on. He is now just taking that original donation and moving it somewhere else. Not that I am against the Olympians getting paid, just some context. Sources: https://philanthropynewsdig…

[dead]

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#105

Post by conductr »

nulbyte wrote: post #62
conductr wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He'll donate to a trust/non-profit he controls that will direct the investment. That allows him to take the tax benefit today and keep the money

Not if he controls the funds. Tax deductions are only afforded to contributions if they are charitable and am actual gift. If the contributor benefits, it is bit deductible, and control of donated funds is a benefit, as is the ability to direct funds to a particular person or persons.

Billionaires can financial engineer their way around those types of rules quite easily

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#106

Post by defrost »

kurtis_reed wrote: post #100

I thought the Olympics were supposed to be for amateur athletes

* yes, but payment after the fact doesn't count.

* "amateaur" meaning independantly wealthy, or supported by patron or state.

It's rare to see a kid from the lowest demographics on the gymnast team unless they've been scouted and picked up by a state or national institute.

Similarly horse racing is about the fastest horse with a certified pedigree.

It's about the bloodline, the trainers, the owners, and not about a Waler that can run four miles into a machine gun nest.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#107

Post by an0malous »

chii wrote: post #98
an0malous wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would have never guessed that a significant portion of western society would not only be ok with killing thousands of children but be outraged that anyone would protest it. I feel like I have more information about the world than ever and understand it less than ever.

[flagged]

> How many children are dying/starved/killed in the sudan war? Why don't these same protests make the same kind of statements for that?

Because the United States isn't funding and supplying the weapons for that atrocity, and we don't have American congressman and presidents visiting Sudan to pay homage, or have US officials saying "Sudan first" and "Sudan is our greatest ally" and putting the Sudanese flag in their offices. The US president's son-in-law isn't pitching investors on buying beachfront property in Sudan.

> is very specifically socially engineered imho - because there's an actor behind it with purpose

Who do you think is socially engineering these protests and how? There's far more evidence that Israel is manipulating public perceptions, but they're failing at it because there are too many alternative sources of media to control them all now.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#108

Post by godelski »

underwater wrote: post #60
godelski wrote: post #53

Kinda of a side note but a way I try to talk to people about how much a billion dollars is is "how many people can you hire each day at X dollars before you start losing money". Here's the setup: you have a billion dollars invested in some account earning some interest, let's say 5% because that's like bond rates (lower than S&P500). Day 1 you generate interest and don't hire. All following weekdays you hire a new em…

Your illustration is really long winded. If you invested a billion dollars at a conservative 5% interest rate, you could employ 200 people at 250k a year on the interest alone.

Maybe, but if you just jump to the answer people don't really get it.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#109

Post by bastawhiz »

chii wrote: post #98
an0malous wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would have never guessed that a significant portion of western society would not only be ok with killing thousands of children but be outraged that anyone would protest it. I feel like I have more information about the world than ever and understand it less than ever.

[flagged]

As a US taxpayer, I'm outraged that my tax dollars are used to fund the killing of children in Gaza. The political will of my elected officials could end the killing.

To the best of my knowledge, I'm not in any way directly funding a war in Sudan. That doesn't mean I don't care, but I'm not being made complicit.

Re: Ross Stevens Donates $100M to Pay Every US Olympian and Paralympian $200k

#110

Post by godelski »

snowwrestler wrote: post #67
dataflow wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd need to account for inflation right?

Just use a real rate of return and it still works. However, 5% real return is not likely from bonds alone.

True, but also very few billionaires are getting only 5% back a year... The estimate was supposed to be conservative on purpose
Post reply on HN