DEAR READERS,
The week in random review By Zach Hagadone Reader Staff
‘summer camp for billionaires’
For a few days each year, Sun Valley, Idaho becomes the center of the universe for some of the world’s richest and most influential people. The Allen & Co. conference this year takes place Tuesday, July 11-Friday, July 14, with the recently released guest list including: Bill Gates of Microsoft; Tim Cook of Apple; Mark Zuckerburg of Meta; Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway; Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation; Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger; Oprah Winfrey of Oprah Winfrey; the CEOs of Open AI and Google; the co-founders of PayPal and LinkedIn; the chairman and CEOs of Netflix; newscasters Gayle King and Van Jones; former-CIA Director David Petraeus; the owners of the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres; and the commissioners of the MLB, PGA Tour, NBA and NFL. Who won’t be there? Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos.
the land of cockaigne
Speaking of outrageous wealth, among the many curious paintings produced by Pieter Bruegel the Elder is the 1567 satirical oil work entitled “The Land of Cockaigne,” depicting an imagined world of eternal (amoral) abundance. In it, Bruegel has a peasant, a clerk and a soldier lying beneath a table either asleep or allowing wine to flow in their mouths, while the haystacks are made of bread, the birds fly pre-cooked into people’s mouths and the pigs run with carving knives stuck in their flesh. Bruegel didn’t invent this mythical land; rather, it was a popular fantasy of peasants dating at least to the 13th century. In the original poem, however, it wasn’t an easy place to enter: “Whoever wants to come to that land must pay a heavy penance: he must wade in swine’s dung up to the chin for seven years to win the place.” Or he could invent an app.
it’s a crab, crab, crab, crab, crab world
I was just shy of three months from 43 years of age when I learned from a Scientific American article published in June that Earth’s most perfect creature is apparently the crab, whose basic physical structure (a carapace, segmented legs, claws and all that) have evolved separately at least five different times over the past few hundred million years. “In fact, it’s happened so often that there’s a name for it: carcinization,” the magazine reported, explaining that it’s another term for “convergent evolution,” in which separate species develop in similar ways (think: birds and bats). Even weirder, what we often call “crabs” aren’t even really crabs — “They’ve adopted a crab-like body plan, but actually belong to a closely related group of crustaceans called ‘false crabs,’” and that includes king crabs, hermit crabs and many other varieties of crusty, clawed critters — including Rupert Murdoch.
The word “freedom” is bandied about a lot around this time of year. I’d like to invite you all to really examine what the word means. Merriam-Webster defines it as, “the power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.” We take our freedom seriously here in the United States, and for good reason — it’s one of the best things we have going for us. However, to support freedom means to support everyone’s freedom. It means accepting someone even if they believe something you might not agree with. It means letting people love who they choose to love. It means tolerance, respect and decency. It means live and let live, not demanding that others think the way you do, feel the way you do and live the way you do. We are a nation filled with differences, united under a common banner of freedom. Let’s never forget that. Wishing you all a wonderful Fourth of July. Be safe, have fun and be free.
– Ben Olson, publisher
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www.sandpointreader.com Publisher: Ben Olson ben@sandpointreader.com Editorial: Zach Hagadone (Editor) zach@sandpointreader.com Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey (News Editor) lyndsie@sandpointreader.com Cameron Rasmusson (emeritus) John Reuter (emeritus) Advertising: Kelsey Kizer kelsey@sandpointreader.com Contributing Artists: Ben Olson (cover), Bill Borders, Guy Lothian, Karen and Steve Hempstead, Brenden Bobby, the Janssen family, Rick Reed Contributing Writers: Zach Hagadone, Ben Olson, Lyndsie Kiebert-Carey, Lorraine H. Marie, Brenden Bobby, Jerry Pavia, Brad Smith, Luke Omodt, Danielle Packard, Marcia Pilgeram, Sandy Compton. Submit stories to: stories@sandpointreader.com Printed weekly at: Tribune Publishing Co. Lewiston, ID Subscription Price: $165 per year Web Content: Keokee The Sandpoint Reader is a weekly publication owned and operated by Ben Olson and Keokee. It is devoted to the arts, entertainment, politics and lifestyle in and around Sandpoint, Idaho. We hope to provide a quality alternative by offering honest, in-depth reporting that reflects the intelligence and interests of our diverse and growing community. The Reader is printed on recycled paper using soy-based ink. Leftover copies are collected and recycled weekly, or burned in massive bonfires to appease the gods of journalism. Free to all, limit two copies per person.
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This week’s cover photo was taken during the 2019 Fourth of July parade in Sandpoint. Happy Independence day! June 29, 2023 / R / 3