Sunday, December 19, 2021

TIME's Person Of The Year: Elon Musk



TIME's Person Of The Year:
Elon Musk


2021 Person of the Year Elon Musk - Time Magazine

Person of the Year is a marker of influence, and few individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth too. In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the world’s richest person but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society. Despite shattering records this year with a net worth above $300 billion, Elon Musk demurs at being described as the richest person in the history of the world. “Excluding sovereigns,” Musk says wryly, adding that Russia’s Vladimir Putin is likely richer than he. “I can’t invade countries and stuff.”


The differences begin to fade a bit as one drives down Texas Highway 4, between the Gulf of Mexico and the Rio Grande, toward one of the southernmost points in the U.S., where Musk is preparing to launch the world’s largest rocket. Gleaming spacecraft rise stories above the sparse terrain. His company is gobbling up local housing and encouraging employees to move there. “Creating the city of Starbase, Texas,” Musk announced on Twitter earlier this year, to the evident surprise of the residents of Boca Chica, where his facility is located. (A county official noted that “Sending a tweet does not make it so,” and that a petition must first be filed.)


For nearly a century, TIME has named a Person of the Year—the individual or group who most shaped the previous 12 months, for better or for worse. Person of the Year is a marker of influence, and few individuals have had more influence than Musk on life on Earth, and potentially life off Earth too. In 2021, Musk emerged not just as the world’s richest person but also as perhaps the richest example of a massive shift in our society.



From Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to Facebook turned Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, the year brought home the extent to which, at a time of rising protest over ever deepening inequality, our lives and many of the basic structures around them are now shaped by the pursuits, products and priorities of the world’s wealthiest people. Even in that rarefied crowd, Musk is in a class of his own. He sees his mission as solving the globe’s most intractable challenges, along the way disrupting multiple industries across two decades. These include what was once the core American creation, combustion-engine automobiles, and what was once the core American aspiration, spaceflight, as well as a litany of other manifestations of our present and future: infrastructure construction, artificial intelligence, neurotechnology, payment systems and increasingly money itself through his dalliances with cryptocurrencies. 


As provocative as his vision is his persona, a blunt instrument that often seems to revel in division and aggressive mockery as he gives the world access to his id through social media. Musk’s largest terrestrial impact so far has been with Tesla. 2021 was the year that electric vehicles finally came into the mainstream and that Tesla became a trillion-dollar company, one of only a handful in the world. It’s a market that Musk almost single-handedly created, seeing long before others the demand for clean-energy transportation that the world’s climate crisis would eventually propel. From Detroit to Milan, announcements of EV commitments poured in all year as automakers that once fiercely resisted emissions restrictions are now scrambling to catch up.

Should we fall short with Earth, Musk’s answer is space, where he envisions “a futuristic Noah’s ark.” His SpaceX is the global commercial leader in building and flying rockets and crews, chosen by NASA to build the ship that aims to place astronauts back on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Musk’s rough timeline for that is three years, with two more years to land on Mars. The key, he says as matter-of-factly as the rest of us might say the time of day, is making spacefaring rockets as reusable as airplanes.



Musk’s rise coincides with broader trends of which he and his fellow technology magnates are part cause and part effect: the continuing decline of traditional institutions in favor of individuals; government dysfunction that has delivered more power and responsibility to business; and chasms of wealth and opportunity. In an earlier era, ambitions on the scale of interplanetary travel were the ultimate collective undertaking, around which Presidents rallied nations. Today they are increasingly the province of private companies. To Musk, that is progress, steering capital allocation away from the government to those who will be good stewards of it. To others, it is testament to capitalism’s failings as staggeringly wealthy, mostly white men play by their own rules while much of society gets left behind.



In deciding each December who should be Person of the Year, we look back but also aim to look forward. Bezos was the choice in 1999 when e-commerce was just beginning to take off. Zuckerberg was selected in 2010, well before it was clear what Facebook’s full effect on society and democracy would be. We don’t yet know how fully Tesla, SpaceX and the ventures Musk has yet to think up will change our lives. At 50, he has plenty of time to write the future, his own and ours. Like it or not, we are now in Musk’s world.

For creating solutions to an existential crisis, for embodying the possibilities and the perils of the age of tech titans, for driving society’s most daring and disruptive transformations, Elon Musk is TIME’s 2021 Person of the Year.


ARTICLE by EDWARD FELSENTHAL
PHOTOGRAPHS by MARK MAHANEY

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

THE VANDERBILT FAMILY by Anderson Cooper

THE VANDERBILT FAMILY by Anderson Cooper



New York Times bestselling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times bestselling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty—his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts.

When eleven-year-old Cornelius Vanderbilt began to work on his father’s small boat ferrying supplies in New York Harbor at the beginning of the nineteenth century, no one could have imagined that one day he would, through ruthlessness, cunning, and a pathological desire for money, build two empires—one in shipping and another in railroads—that would make him the richest man in America. His staggering fortune was fought over by his heirs after his death in 1877, sowing familial discord that would never fully heal. Though his son Billy doubled the money left by “the Commodore,” subsequent generations competed to find new and ever more extraordinary ways of spending it. By 2018, when the last Vanderbilt was forced out of The Breakers—the seventy-room summer estate in Newport, Rhode Island, that Cornelius’s grandson and namesake had built—the family would have been unrecognizable to the tycoon who started it all.

Now, the Commodore’s great-great-great-grandson Anderson Cooper, joins with historian Katherine Howe to explore the story of his legendary family and their outsized influence. Cooper and Howe breathe life into the ancestors who built the family’s empire, basked in the Commodore’s wealth, hosted lavish galas, and became synonymous with unfettered American capitalism and high society. Moving from the hardscrabble wharves of old Manhattan to the lavish drawing rooms of Gilded Age Fifth Avenue, from the ornate summer palaces of Newport to the courts of Europe, and all the way to modern-day New York, Cooper and Howe wryly recount the triumphs and tragedies of an American dynasty unlike any other.

Written with a unique insider’s viewpoint, this is a rollicking, quintessentially American history as remarkable as the family it so vividly captures.


In his new book, CNN anchor and "60 Minutes" correspondent Anderson Cooper tells the story of the Vanderbilt family dynasty – from his great-great-great-grandfather, Cornelius "Commodore" Vanderbilt, once the richest man in America who built his fortune through steamships and railroads, to his mother, socialite Gloria Vanderbilt.

Cooper talks with correspondent Mo Rocca about how the wealth and privilege in his family tree marked succeeding generations. CBS Sunday Morning 

Saturday, February 13, 2021

The Buffer Brothers: Crazy True Life Story Of Bruce And Michael Buffer



In case you fight fans didn't know, Michael Buffer is a famous boxing & wrestling ring announcer who is 'world-renowned' for his trademarked catchphrase, "Let's get ready to rumble!"

What makes this story even more intriguing is that his younger half-brother — Bruce Buffer — is a popular mixed martial arts octagon announcer who also has a signature catchphrase, "It's time!"



MICHAEL BUFFER
&
BRUCE BUFFER

THE BUFFER BROTHERS



Soledad O'Brien sits down with the enterprising duo to learn more about their inspiring story, and how it led to the birth of the Buffer Partnership. Real Sports debuts Tues., May 20 at 10pm ET/PT on HBO. 


"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT'S...TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME!"
-vs-
"LUUUH-ets GET RRREADY TO RUMMM-BULLL!"


“The feeling that overtook me was (A) I’m a big fan of his work and a fan of what he does, but (B) this is my blood. This is my brother. I’m hit by a kind of double whammy. It was a wonderful night. I was just so happy we all got along.”

For much of their lives, Michael Buffer and Bruce Buffer led separate existences -- Michael with his foster parents, Bruce with his birth parents -- connected and unconnected, as intertwined and radically different as boxing and UFC.
 

Monday, September 28, 2020

Luke Voit: Origins Story | New York Yankees

LUKE VOIT: ORIGINS STORY
NEW YORK YANKEES

According to the first baseman, however, the procedure not only repaired the problem but combined with the post-surgery rehab work has significantly improved other areas of his well-built 6-foot-3, 225-pound frame. “I have never felt any better in my life. It’s everything. I feel faster, more agile and my strength is back,” Voit told The Post while driving through Atlanta on his way from Missouri to Tampa on Saturday. 
"That’s part of my success, having to fail a lot.” Here's a deep dive into where Luke Voit came from and how he's become the man and baseball player he is today.


22 HR 52 RBI .277 AVG




Yankees first baseman Luke Voit talks about what it takes for a successful at-bat and why he’s incorporated the “Sammy Hop” after a home run swing.


Sunday, August 9, 2020

Top 10 NBA Plays Of The Night | August 8th, 2020

NBA's Top 10 Plays Of The Night | August 8th, 2020

Check out the top 10 plays of the night from the NBA Restart on August 8, featuring Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Kristaps Porzingis and more!


21-yr-old phenom strikes again w/ NBA's leading 17th triple-double: 36 pts • 17 rebs • 19 asts



Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Top 5 NBA Plays Of The Night | October 22nd, 2019

Top 5 NBA Plays Of The Night
October 22nd, 2019



Check out the top 5 plays of the night from around the league on Oct. 22 featuring Kawhi Leonard, Lonzo Ball, LeBron James and more!

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Top 10 NBA Plays Of The Night | October 18th, 2019

Top 10 NBA Plays Of The Night
October 18th, 2019


Check out the top 10 plays of the night from around the league on Oct. 18 featuring Kendrick Nunn, Jahlil Okafor, RJ Barrett and more!

Friday, October 18, 2019

Top 10 NBA Plays Of The Night | October 17th, 2019


Top 10 NBA Plays Of The Night
October 17th, 2019


Check out the top 10 plays of the night from around the league on Oct. 17 featuring Zach LaVine, Karl-Anthony Towns, Wendell Carter Jr. and more!

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Top 10 NBA Plays Of The Night | October 16th, 2019


Top 10 NBA Plays Of The Night
October 16th, 2019


Check out the top 10 plays of the night from around the league on Oct. 16 featuring Trae Young, LeBron James and more!


Monday, April 15, 2019

Asian Baby Boss


theCHINESE BABY BOSS

Toddler uses steel pipe to defend grandmother from Chinese authorities

“A toddler is being hailed as a miniature hero on Chinese social media after he defended his grandmother from urban management officers who were trying to clamp down on illegal street vendors.



The video of the toddler standing up to the grown men has gone viral, and shows the boy picking up a long steel pipe, wielding it like a weapon and repeatedly yelling: "Don't touch my grandma!"



The boy's actions cracked many eyewitnesses up, but has also earned him plenty of compliments from Chinese netizens for his brazen contempt toward authority.” — Alicia Tan | Mashable


Saturday, December 29, 2018

Carlos Santana The Designer?

Latino Designers We Love: Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana can do more than play a sick tune on his guitar. Have you checked out his hottest shoes and bags? Here, he tells us how he got into fashion.



How did you get into designing women's shoes and bags?
I was looking for another passion to express my creativity while simultaneously supporting my philanthropic efforts through The Milagro Foundation, and making females happy through my shoe and handbag lines has given me tremendous satisfaction. If the females are happy then everyone is happy.


Does your music inspire your designs?
My musical state of mind is always part of every part of the Carlos Santana brand, whether it's a handbag or a shoe or a fedora. Melody is the woman and rhythm is the man. Both are necessary and feed off each other in music as in fashion.

What advice would you have for someone wanting to start their own line or business?
Focus, focus, focus! Go after your dream, have a point of view and be true to yourself, believe in yourself and your dream, dreams do come true if you believe and work from the heart.

What were some of the challenges you faced in starting out and how did you overcome them?
In general, there haven't been any serious challenges because failure isn't much of an option for me. At first, though, it was hard for people to associate me with footwear and handbags, but eventually once people saw the quality and style, which spoke to their aesthetic, we were given permission through trust and even more doors opened.




Describe your customer?
I'm always looking for a new color or feeling or sensation, so there's nothing ho-hum or 'been there, done that' about my existence. I feel that this transcends the brand and the people who wear my creations. My customer is a person who is not emotionally invested in fear, and that makes her supremely attractive. She is confident, a go-getter, the woman who knows who she is and what she wants, understands style and trend and wants to be fashionable.

What would you say is your design signature?
Symetry of color, texture and confidence that makes the woman who wears or carries my products feel special while inspiring and transcending her confidence and inner balance.

What tips would you give our reader on wearing your shoes (when, where, how, with what fashions)?
Walk like you own clarity, peace of mind, good health and happiness. Utilize my Carlos by Carlos Santana shoes, bags and hats to compliment and make your outfit. Create your own unique style by embracing your individuality and your own true self.

Best piece of fashion advice for women?
Follow your heart and your own style, be who you are, be comfortable and do what speaks to you – embrace your individuality.

Celeb you'd most like to see in your shoes?
I like to see celebrities, as well as all women, that exude femininity, individuality and supernatural style, just like who my customer is. If I had to pick one, she'd have to embody all of that and have exceptionally pretty feet! — Niria Portella | Cosmopolitan 


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