Vivek Patel

[Sonny Rollins @sonnyrollins]

It is with deep sorrow and profound love that we announce the passing of Sonny Rollins. The Saxophone Colossus died this afternoon at his home in Woodstock, NY at the age of 95. 1/2 https://t.co/6AGmFrB7x4

[Camus @newstart_2024]

Billy Bob Thornton called it years before most people noticed.

On Joe Rogan, he said when the internet first arrived he told his wife: “Watch and see — this is going to ruin people’s view of each other and ruin society.” He predicted that giving everyone a platform wouldn’t just lift real talent — it would flood the world with noise, bathroom selfies, and people becoming “stars” based purely on follower counts instead of actual ability.

He’s still salty about 22-year-olds at studios greenlighting influencers who “can’t do jack shit.”

We’ve built an entire culture where attention is currency, and actual talent often loses out to whoever games the algorithm best. Billy Bob saw the downside coming from day one.

I remember thinking the internet would make everything better too. And in many ways it has — it’s given voice to millions of people who otherwise would never have been heard. But it also made the conversation louder and often dumber. Billy Bob’s old-man-on-the-lawn warning still hits on some real problems.

Do you think the internet has been a net positive for giving regular people a voice, or has it done more harm than good?

[livefreeopinion @livefreeopinion]

@LeadingReport Deep State Museum here we come!

[Jazzwise @Jazzwise]

Roy Haynes: 13/3/1925 – 12/11/2024
Alyn Shipton salutes the revered jazz drummer who has died aged 99, after an astonishing nine decade career that saw him work alongside fellow jazz greats such as Charlie Parker, John Coltrane and Charles Mingus https://t.co/H31T3B6f78

[End Wokeness @EndWokeness]

Trump. Better coverage than Verizon.

[Morgan Freeman @morgan_freeman]

Today, we say goodbye to the legendary Quincy Jones—a musical giant whose genius reshaped our world and left an enduring legacy. Rest well, Quincy. #legend

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Monkeys will never type Shakespeare, study finds. (This deserves an Ig Nobel Prize!) https://t.co/j40EZxBASZ

[Ethan Iverson @ethan_iverson]

[thread} Sorry to hear of the passing of John McNeil, artist of the trumpet, fine composer, and skilled raconteur.

[Ted Gioia @tedgioia]

Here's saxophonist Benny Golson, who left us yesterday at age 95, pointing to his image in the famous 'Great Day in Harlem' photo.

With Golson's passing, Sonny Rollins is the last living musician in that iconic photo of jazz greats taken in 1958.

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Mandatory DEI Statements Are Ideological Pledges of Allegiance. Time to Abandon Them. | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson https://t.co/0p211YcPK2

[Rolling Stone @RollingStone]

Robert Glasper honored his late collaborator and bandmate Casey Benjamin, telling Rolling Stone, “He was the epitome of what it means to be unique and one of a kind. The true meaning of a genius at his craft.”

🔗https://t.co/3ST0dgTvB3

[John Stossel @JohnStossel]

10 years ago, I complained about government spending a record $3 trillion.

Now they spend more than $6 trillion!

It’s unsustainable. No wonder Fitch downgraded our credit rating.

But @RominaBoccia of @CatoInstitute has a possible solution:

[Thomas Sowell Quotes @ThomasSowell]

There is really nothing very mysterious about why our public schools are failures. When you select the poorest quality college students to be public school teachers, give them iron-clad tenure, a captive audience, and pay them according to seniority rather than performance, why should the results be surprising?

[Ethan Iverson @ethan_iverson]

[fact check: The last time a band tuned to a singer was never]

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

A sad confirmation of their point: Scientists Defend Merit in Science in a paper that could be published only in the Journal of Controversial Ideas. https://t.co/bTh6EJztTy

[New York Times Music @nytimesmusic]

Breaking News: Wayne Shorter, the enigmatic, intrepid saxophonist who shaped the color and contour of modern jazz as one of its most intensely admired composers, has died at 89. https://t.co/DoByN5F3yl

[Dan O'Dowd @RealDanODowd]

Why is $TSLA plunging?

@ElonMusk: "Full Self-Driving...is the difference between Tesla being worth a lot of money and being worth basically zero."

Many competitors have driverless robotaxis but after 8 years of development FSD will still run down a child in a school crosswalk:

[Neil deGrasse Tyson @neiltyson]

If you are filling a glass and reach the halfway point, it’s half-full. If you are emptying a glass and reach the halfway point, it’s half-empty.

No need to invoke your emotional state.

[Steven Pinker @sapinker]

Kudos to my old employer MIT not just for reinstating SAT/ACT (best way to ID poor, smart kids-alternatives like volunteering, edited statements, & fulsome letters are luxuries), but for an unusually transparent, cant-free, reasoned explanation. https://t.co/X5DfIuNDux

[FBI @FBI]

#DYK that the top three cyber crimes reported by victims in 2021 were phishing scams, non-payment/non-delivery scams, and personal data breaches? Check out more statistics from the #FBI's 2021 Internet Crime Report at https://t.co/Ym9M5on2JW.