Val Myteberi

I travel the world. I rise toward wider horizons. 🌎

[John Arnold @johnarnold]

America's cultural ideal has been the self-made entrepreneur while Europe's was rooted in aristocracy, with status inherited rather than earned. Europe's inheritance laws show this divide.

Many European countries have "forced heirship" laws that require people to leave 50-75% of their estates to their children. Want to leave the majority of your wealth to charity? not allowed. Your kids are estranged from you, struggling with addiction, or irresponsible? still required to give them the money. Want your kids to avoid a life of entitlement? tough.

Incredibly, these laws look back at transfers made during your lifetime. If you have 3 children in France, you're required to bequeath them a minimum of 75% of your estate. Because French law calculates this based on your assets at death plus all lifetime gifts, giving away more than 25% of your wealth while alive means your heirs can legally sue to force charities or foundations to return the funds. This has limited the development of the nonprofit sector on the continent.

The cultural gap between an entrepreneurial society and one shaped by dynastic wealth is enormous. If you make it yourself, you tend to want your kids to do the same. If you inherit it, the primary goal is protecting the estate for the next gen.

Countries like Spain, France, and Italy legally entrench family dynasties, while America has historically sought to limit them through estate taxes. The result is not only a weaker culture of philanthropy and civil society in Europe, but also less economic dynamism.

[Afshine Emrani MD FACC @afshineemrani]

252,757 miles. 🚀

​That is the distance between Reid Wiseman and his two daughters right now. He is currently farther from Earth than any human being has ever traveled in history.

​But the most incredible part isn’t the distance—it’s the strength it took to get there.

​While the world is filled with noise, the Jewish people continue to do what they have always done: Build. Lead. Achieve. ✡️

​Reid’s journey wasn’t easy:

​A Single Father: After losing his wife to cancer and his mother to Alzheimer’s in the same month, Reid raised his girls alone.

​The Ultimate Sacrifice: Before boarding the rocket, he had to show his teenagers where his will was kept. He isn’t just a commander; he’s a dad with a promise to keep.

​A Legacy of Resilience: From being rejected by the Naval Academy to commanding the most important mission of our generation—he never stopped climbing.

​Today, he is breaking the Apollo 13 record. He is seeing parts of the Moon no human eye has ever witnessed. And in his flight bag? Homemade cookies from his daughters.

​Reid Wiseman isn't just representing a nation; he is a testament to the enduring spirit of Am Yisrael Chai. We don't just survive; we reach for the stars.

​Share this if you believe in the power of resilience. 🌕✨

​#ArtemisII #ReidWiseman #AmYisraelChai #NASA #Inspiration #JewishExcellence #MoonMission #Space

[Open Source Intel @Osint613]

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on the Iran conflict:

"I would step back a little when you say it’s a war of choice. There was no imminent threat? They’ve been killing people around the world for 45-plus years. They funded Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, they have terrorist cells here. They were about to get ballistic missiles that can go almost 3,000 miles. They never gave up nuclear. I’m praying it ends well." - Axios

[Val Myteberi @valm11]

Thank you, President Kotlikoff, for your principled letter rejecting the resolution against @Cornell's partnership with Technion! Your strong defense of academic freedom and call-out of the "deeply disturbing" political bias is exactly the leadership we need. Well done!

[Tali Goldsheft @TaliGoldsheft]

Amazing letter by @Cornell President rejecting the resolution. Should be read by all:

Dear Zora,

Thank you for conveying SA Resolution 61: Calling for the Termination of Cornell University’s Partnership with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology While Preserving Cornell Tech. I reject this resolution, which fundamentally conflicts with Cornell’s principles of academic collaboration and our core commitment to academic freedom.
Cornell Tech is not a political entity. It is an academic partnership, created through shared investment by Cornell University, the Technion, and the City of New York for the benefit of the city and the state, according to a negotiated set of conditions that govern its development and the terms of its 99-year ground lease on Roosevelt Island. As one of Cornell University’s many international partnerships and collaborations, Cornell Tech deepens, enriches, and strengthens the ability of our students, faculty, and staff to pursue knowledge and advance the university’s academic mission. The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute, the core international partnership upon which Cornell Tech is based, is an extraordinarily valuable collaboration focusing on education and research in health tech, media tech, and urban tech, and supporting the development of new startup companies.

Severing our relationship with the Technion—or with any entity affiliated with governments, institutions, or enterprises with which some of our community members disagree—as a statement of political protest, would not only hinder our research, teaching, and public engagement; it would imperil our academic principles.

Our university, like all of our peer institutions, regularly faces pressure—from across the political spectrum, from within and beyond our own community—to make academic decisions according to political priorities. The phenomenon is not a new one: universities have grappled with such pressures from governments and societies for as long as the institution of the university has existed. When we yield to these pressures and proscribe specific collaborations or collaborators on grounds other than merit, we compromise our principles of academic freedom, undermine our own institutional excellence, and damage public trust in our work.  
Moreover, this resolution inaccurately asserts that “the continued operation of Cornell Tech as a Cornell University campus does not require an ongoing partnership with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.” Cornell Tech, while part of Cornell, is a joint effort of the university, the Technion, and the City of New York. It is no more possible for Cornell to unilaterally terminate that effort and claim full control of the campus than it would be for the Technion or the City of New York to do the same.

Finally, I am deeply troubled by the selective manner in which this resolution singles out the Technion, alone of Cornell’s many international partners, for censure. Cornell currently maintains 159 active agreements with institutions in 59 nations and regions; all of these institutions have some government affiliation, and many conduct research with military and security applications. Cornell itself has military research contracts, conducts research with potential military applications, and has relationships with companies whose products are used in military contexts. Cornell also has relationships with institutions in countries whose governments have been accused of human rights violations—as our own has been. 
None of these publicly available facts are mentioned in the resolution; only our partnership with an Israeli institution is targeted for erasure. The political bias evident in this selective approach is deeply disturbing, and the resolution is incompatible with both the Student Assembly’s purpose and Cornell University’s core values. I reject it fully and forcefully.

Sincerely,

Michael Kotlikoff
President and Professor of Molecular Physiology
Cornell University

[Elliot Steinmetz @elliotsteinmetz]

I don’t need those who are uncomfortable to call out antisemites for PR purposes. If you’re silent about hate, you’re complicit.

You don’t need to pretend for us.

Just know and understand if you don’t stand up, you stood down.

[Sana Ebrahimi Ledene @__Injaneb96]

I am an Iranian and I would like to ask you to pray for the U.S. forces, and the Iranian people (Not the Ayatollahs' regime).

Long live the people of Iran, and God bless the United States of America.

[Ian Miles Cheong @ianmiles]

Marc Andreessen: There are two ways to think about education. One is at the national level — how do you educate all kids? But the real question is N = 1: what do you do for one individual kid? And for centuries, the answer has been obvious.

If your goal is to maximize a single child, the best method by far is one-on-one tutoring. Every royal family knew this. Every aristocratic class knew this. It’s why Alexander the Great was tutored by Aristotle — and then took over the world.

There’s actually statistical proof of this. The Bloom’s 2-sigma effect shows one-on-one tutoring can move a kid from the 50th percentile to the 99th percentile. No other educational method comes close.

AI changes that. For the first time in history, every kid can have access to infinite questions, instant feedback, personalized explanations, and real-time quizzes — all at N = 1 scale.

This is the most powerful shift in education we’ve seen in centuries. One-on-one tutoring was always the gold standard. AI is what finally makes it available to everyone.

[Barry Rosen @brosen1501]

I was the press attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran when I was taken hostage for 444 days by the zealous followers of Ayatollah Khomeini. During that time, the spokesperson for the hostage‑takers, Massoumeh Ebtekar—whom we called “Mary”—interrogated us with venom and publicly threatened to put us on “trial” and execute us on the spot.

Today, in a bitter irony, Ebtekar’s son, Issah Hashemi, lives comfortably in Los Angeles and works as an academic.

And now another example of this hypocrisy has been challenged. Dr. Fatemeh Larijani‑Ardeshir, daughter of Ali Larijani—the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and a key figure in the violent crackdown on Iranian protesters—was just “dismissed” from Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute. This came only days after the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Ali Larijani and other architects of the Islamic Republic’s repression. Emory has not said whether her dismissal is tied to those sanctions.

For many in the Iranian diaspora—and for those of us who survived captivity—the presence of regime offspring living privileged lives in the U.S. has become a flashpoint for anger after decades of repression. We have watched the Islamic Republic murder thousands of protesters, extort grieving families for the bodies of their loved ones, and force them to bury their children in silence.

Meanwhile, the children of regime elites enjoy safety, freedom, and opportunity in the very country their parents condemn.

This contradiction is now at the center of a growing movement—one gaining momentum with each new revelation. Justice demands that we confront this hypocrisy.

[Val Myteberi @valm11]

Proud of my former law student @jfire123 (‘16) who has officially qualified for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games!

Jared will compete for Team Israel in Men’s Skeleton, earning a spot among just 25 athletes worldwide.

Jared’s journey to the Olympic Games began at Cardozo Law School while watching the 2014 Olympic Games during his 1L year, making several trips to Lake Placid, NY to learn the sport before beginning training full time in 2017.

Watch Jared Live (EST):
• Feb 12 | 3:30 AM
• Feb 13 | 1:30 PM
📺Streaming on https://t.co/jRn3bn9zeF & Peacock
📲Follow along on Instagram: @jaredfirestone_

[Val Myteberi @valm11]

@elonmusk JFK to Manhattan

[The Moderate Case @TheModerateCase]

Erfan Soltani is set to be executed by the Iranian regime.
Please share his name.
Please speak about his case.
Please stand with the people of Iran.

[Val Myteberi @valm11]

@elicalebon Save #ErfanSoltani

[Van Jones @VanJones68]

What’s unfolding in Iran may be the most consequential and underreported story in the world. Free elections there won’t just be a human rights victory. The fall of the Ayatollahs will release tens of millions of people, who come from one of the most creative civilizations in history. Iranian culture has shaped art, science and innovation for centuries. Suppressing it hurts not just Iranians, but humanity as a whole.

[The Figen @TheFigen_]

This artist plays one of Vivaldi's most difficult pieces on his accordion, a work that is normally performed by a whole orchestra.

[Athenaeum Book Club @athenaeumbc]

Fyodor Dostoevsky once stood before a firing squad.

He had been arrested for reading banned books and discussing forbidden ideas. At twenty-eight, he was blindfolded, tied, and told to prepare for death. He later said those final minutes stretched into an eternity… every sound sharper, every thought purified.

At the last moment, a messenger arrived. The execution was a ruse. His sentence was commuted to hard labor in Siberia.

He spent four years in a frozen prison camp among murderers and thieves. Chains on his legs. Disease in his body. Scripture was the only book allowed. The Gospels became his lifeline.

He emerged with one conviction burned into him: that man is fallen, suffering is real, and redemption is possible only through love freely chosen.

From that came Crime and Punishment, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov… novels that stare straight at evil and refuse to look away, yet insist that even the worst soul can be saved.

[Samantha Smith @SamanthaTaghoy]

My immigrant mother always told me “the only people who want communism are those that have never lived under a communist regime.”

She’s right.
And if you need proof:

This is the sound of millions of Venezuelans celebrating the capture of Communist dictator Nicolás Maduro.

[The Free Press @TheFP]

You’ve been lied to about Africa.

@MagatteW: “Africa is not poor because of colonialism. Africa is poor because we have made it impossible for our people to create wealth.”

[Val Myteberi @valm11]

@BillAckman @BillAckman This deeply entrenched culture will take decades to undo. The best response for philanthropists like you: redirect support to value-driven institutions, (like YU in NYC) and help elevate them to new levels of excellence. #Antisemitism #HigherEd

[Val Myteberi @valm11]

“The spirit of association remains alive in unexpected places.” https://t.co/8vRJKLkKGh