3 Facts, 3 Numbers, 3 Thoughts 

THE FACTS

* A man was sent to jail for referring to his daughter as “she.” A British Columbia man was arrested for referring to his 16-year-old transgender child (who was born female but prefers male pronouns) as “she,” “her,” and “daughter” in an interview with The Federalist. He was charged with contempt of court for violating a gag order that had stated (among many other things) that he “shall not… publish or share information or documentation relating to [the child’s] sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation.” His “freedom of speech” defense failed.

* George Washington was one of America’s first entrepreneurs. Before he became president, believing that mules were the future of American farming, Washington decided to go into the mule-breeding business. There was one problem: Mules are bred by crossing a male donkey with a female horse – and the best donkeys came from Spain. The only way to export them legally required an order from Spain’s King Charles III, an expensive process that Washington bypassed by using his personal connections with influential people to get to the king. It took four years, but eventually paid off. Washington got his donkeys and successfully bred a large herd of what would ultimately become the draft animal of choice for the agricultural South.

* The Washington Post fabricated a Trump story and tried to cover it up. The words “find the fraud” made the rounds when the paper attributed them to Trump, along with claims that he told Georgia investigator Frances Watson that she would be a “national hero” for doing so. But it didn’t happen. WAPO quietly made the correction on March 11, saying the former president had been “misquoted.”

 THE NUMBERS

* $6.6 billion ‒ the net worth of rapper, fashion designer, and producer Kanye West. If true, this would make West the wealthiest Black man in American history. However, it is mostly based on a $4 billion valuation of his Yeezy shoe/apparel line, a calculation that (as pointed out by Forbes) is theoretical.

* $20 billion – the amount that Intel, the tech corporation, announced it will spend to erect two semiconductor chip factories in Arizona. This comes during a global chip shortage that China has attempted to capitalize on with factories of its own (in hopes of overtaking the US in production). Intel’s intention is to become a chip “foundry,” or manufacturing partner, for other chip companies, a market that it estimates will be worth $100 billion by 2025.

* $2.9 million – the amount of money that Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s first-ever tweet sold for at auction. The tweet, which simply reads “just setting up my twttr,” turned 15 years old on the last day of bidding (March 21). Dorsey tweeted that he would convert the proceeds to Bitcoin and donate it to GiveDirectly, a charity for people living in extreme poverty in Africa.

THE THOUGHTS 

* “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.” – Oscar Wilde

* “It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” ‒ Thomas Sowell

* “There are two types of confidence. Delusionary confidence, which comes from coddling, and genuine confidence, which comes from accomplishment.” ‒ Michael Masterson