Elon Musk Loses Lawsuit to Punish Free Speech & Robert De Niro has Award Rescinded as Punishment for Using Free Speech
Caitlin Clark Gets Knocked to the Ground in Cheap Shot, NY Post's Outrageously Biased Headline, $150 Million Paid Out Due to Police Violence, What I'm Watching--Movies, Kansas Sings “Dust in the Wind”
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: Some thoughts about our misguided desire for immortality.
Musk tried to ‘punish’ critics, judge rules, in tossing a lawsuit: The self-proclaimed guardian of free speech once again proves he’s the opposite.
Robert De Niro Is Stripped Of Award After Donald Trump Takedown Outside Courthouse: They’ve taken away his award for philanthropy because he used free speech. Their reasoning is laughable.
$150m paid in police misconduct claims shows violent response to 2020 protests, experts say: We keep making the same mistakes despite the lessons from history. Isn’t there a name for that?
Kareem’s Video Break: The joy of having siblings.
New York Post Front Page Goes Full MAGA on Trump’s Conviction: The Post has chosen to remove whatever pretense they had that they were a news organization in an effort to become Trump’s official “news” outlet.
Indiana coach livid over ‘unacceptable’ cheap shot on Caitlin Clark despite win: This kind of on-court violence says a lot about the perpetrator—none of it good.
What I’m Watching—Movies: Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Furiosa are imaginative and entertaining cautionary tales about a dystopian future.
Kansas Sings “Dust in the Wind”: This companion song to my Daily Quote helps put life in perspective.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Susan Ertz, Anglo-American novelist (1887-1985)
Many people long for immortality. Or, if not to live forever, at least to live much longer than they do now. But how much is enough—and how much is too much? Some hope for science to prolong our lives through some magic longevity pill. Others dream of a sublime afterlife in which they live forever in some peaceful kingdom of everlasting and unconditional love.
I don’t think they’ve thought it through. What would it be like to be 200 years old, even if our bodies remained fit? Even our stories of immortality lack imagination. We tell of vampires who have lived for hundreds of years, yet they seem to have learned very little in all that time. In movies, they seem to have arrested any learning or wisdom at the age of the actor. Mostly, experiencing so much death and grief has left them numb or indifferent to most emotions. See, that’s the rub: after a certain point, we don’t seem to get smarter or wiser or more insightful. Just older.
I don’t see the attraction of an afterlife. Once you have the absolute knowledge of everlasting life, what is the value of doing anything? Seems crushingly boring. I have some interest in being recycled back to Earth as a baby and getting another shot at life, but only if I had my full memory so I could use that experience and wisdom to be a better person. There’s no point in making the same immature mistakes over and over.
For me, reaching old age has made me kinder, more empathetic, and more forgiving precisely because I know the end of the road is just ahead. It puts things into perspective so that I am forced to cherish more of what matters and throw what doesn’t overboard. Sure, I would like to see what becomes of my grandchildren, whether America ever defeats racism, a woman president, or the return of the McRib—but I have faith that all these things will happen because enough people believe that the American Dream isn’t about amassing personal wealth, but providing equal opportunity for everyone to thrive.
My immortality will rely on another quote, this one by Emily Dickinson: “Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.” I’m content that I played my part in the fire brigade of life, passing buckets of water along the line. I have loved and I have been loved. That’s enough for me.