“All These Rich People Can’t Stop Themselves”: The Luxe Quarantine Lives of Silicon Valley’s Elite
Travis Kalanick is throwing (outdoor) parties, private-jet owners are hopping from safe zone to safe zone, and dinner party hosts are administering 15-minute COVID-19 rapid tests—all business as usual. “Coronavirus is a poor person’s virus,” says one source.

https://news.yahoo.com/transcript-lori-lightfoot-face-nation-153852684.html

“Are you going to Travis Kalanick’s party this weekend?” read a text that popped up on my phone a couple of weeks ago. “Umm, no!” I replied. First, I wasn’t invited. (Kalanick is not a big fan of mine, or most other people who have written about him.) But more importantly, this message landed in my inbox smack in the middle of a spike in COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles, where Kalanick now lives. (Kalanick held the party outside, according to two people with knowledge of the soiree, and it was a smaller gathering than pre-COVID parties he is known for.)

Kalanick isn’t the only one throwing parties during the worst pandemic in 100 years. I’ve heard about parties from Palm Springs to Palo Alto, business meetings on the slopes in Colorado after a mountain-biking sesh, electric surfing in Hawaii, and billionaires traveling the world on their private jets, hopping from state to state, country to country, intentionally following the lowest COVID rates of the previous week. “All these rich people can’t stop themselves,” one person who is close to a number of wealthy tech CEOs and venture capitalists told me. “They just can’t stop themselves from throwing parties and going on their jets and socializing as if everything was normal.”

In many respects, to them, things are better than normal. Those on the top billionaire lists have only grown richer over the past five months, as tech has soared on the S&P and NASDAQ, helping push the markets back to their pre-COVID numbers, and adding double-digit billions to some tech CEOs’ personal net worths in a single day. Look no further than Apple or Amazon as a prime example. While 16.3 million Americans are unemployed, Apple is now nearing a $2 trillion market cap and Amazon just posted record profits of $5.2 billion in the last quarter—double last year’s goal.

So what are these elite tech founders doing with their wealth? Mostly living life as they did before coronavirus. I’ve spoken to numerous people who’ve described countless billionaires hitting the road, flying around the country to wherever case numbers are lowest. One investor worth several billion who has several homes told a friend—who then parlayed the information to me in tones of shock and awe and more than a tinge of jealousy—that he was in Miami when the numbers were lowest at the start of the pandemic; hopped over to Los Angeles when Florida got a bit dicey; and now that California is a hotbed, is in New York enjoying the season’s outdoor dining. Another billionaire in Los Angeles has been hosting lavish dinner parties (no social media allowed) where an on-site nurse administers 15-minute coronavirus tests outside as guests drink cocktails, and allows them in to dine once their test comes back negative. And yet another investor told me about some of his colleagues who chipped in for a massive $50,000-a-month compound in Palm Springs that’s being used as a group party house. (I’ve heard about similar setups in Los Angeles and Silicon Valley.)

For those who don’t want to be in America (and let’s be frank, who really wants to be in America right now?), there’s an easy solution. A report last week found that the superrich are paying as much as $2.6 million for international citizenships, then zipping out to said country on their private jets. Not everyone owns their own jet, or “P.J.,” as they’re called. As a result, jet rentals are skyrocketing. A spokeswoman for NetJets, a private-jet rental company, told me that inquiries for flights shot up from the previous year, and have only continued to grow as the pandemic has stretched on. In April, for example, calls to NetJets was up 60% for the year prior, as of June, it was 195%, the spokeswoman said.

Even if you’re stranded at home, there are plenty of new toys to help pass the time. While most of us have tried to pick up an outdoor hobby or two to stay sane, tech workers have been buying up digital versions of the same things. The hot new trend in the oceans around Silicon Valley is the Lift eFoil surfboard, which the company describes as a mix between “surfing, flying, and deep-powder snowboarding.” These contraptions cost $12,000 apiece and allow for more than an hour of ride time at 25 mph on a two-hour charge. We all got a glimpse of one of these boards last month, when Mark Zuckerberg was photographed riding one in Hawaii with a face covered in zinc. For those who prefer biking, the options are apparently endless, and in some cases equal the cost of a down payment on a new house. Most of the tech elite in Silicon Valley have chosen a more economical route, scooping up the trendy MATE bike, a $2,000 fold-up electric bike founded on Indiegogo. (I’ve heard of tech founders going on group “MATE rides” in Silicon Valley, like a gang of hipster Hells Angels; MATE is also the bike of choice for Burning Man given how well it handles rough terrain.) Sales of RVs, like the $200,000 Winnebago Revel, are skyrocketing.

But the area in which the rich have perhaps most distinguished themselves from the other 99 percent is their kids’ education. One California government official told me that some public school teachers are being enticed away to teach a single child in more affluent areas, like Beverly Hills and Palo Alto—a scenario this person called “fucked up,” and one that’s proving to be a real problem for school systems. Others who can’t afford a single teacher are creating pods. As a doctor recently told me, “Coronavirus is a poor person’s virus. We’re seeing it spread in poor neighborhoods, to poor families who have to go to work and live in close proximity to each other, and poor kids are the ones who will not get a proper education.”

Meanwhile, the gap between the haves and the have-nots in Silicon Valley has only grown. The coronavirus pandemic has proven to be more fruitful for tech than almost any other single event in history. Surfer-guy Zuckerberg is now the fourth-richest person on the planet, worth $100 billion. Jeff Bezos has reached another vertiginous high; he’s now worth around $190 billion, depending on the time of day, and he set a record last month when his net worth jumped by $13 billion in single day. Elon Musk, who has spent half the pandemic schilling conspiracy theories about COVID-19 or attacking Gavin Newsom for shuttering businesses, has seen his net worth skyrocket; last month it reached $70 billion, helped along by a $6.1 billion bump in a single day, edging him past Warren Buffett on the list of the world’s richest people. When he passed the benchmark, Musk told Forbes, “I really couldn’t care less.”

Lawrence@Vista_Test2
Had Goff been able to squeeze an extra W for a playoff birth had they been on the other teams?

Vincent Bonsignore@VinnyBonsignore
That’s a tough question. I’ve seen Jared go toe-to-toe with some big-time QB’s in some big-time wins and make clutch plays and throws to help his team win huge games on big stages. You can’t just assume you can trade someone in and get the same performance.

On the other hand, he was also surrounded by tremendous talent. He gets credit for successfully tapping into that talent – not everyone is capable of doing that, obviously

Nate Tice@Nate_Tice
My dad diving into some of the potential issues with Offensive Line timing that may crop up this season with certain run schemes.

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Geoff Schwartz@geoffschwartz
Veteran offensive lines/man will have a huge advantage this season. These young guys have barely any practice and zero preseason game reps to get ready

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from continuity scores: Ranking NFL teams from 1 to 32
https://theathletic.com/1988791/2020/08/14/introducing-continuity-scores-ranking-nfl-teams-from-1-to-32/

How can we measure which teams have the most continuity and which have the least? Below are three key factors.

Coaching: Is the team bringing back the same head coach, offensive play-caller and defensive play-caller?
Quarterback: Does the team have the same starter as last season?
Expected returning snaps: Using The Athletic’s team-by-team 53-man roster projections, we can look at which players are expected back. We can then determine the percentage of expected returning snaps — both on offense and defense — from last season.

17. Los Angeles Rams (78.2)
Their biggest changes are on defense where Sean McVay parted ways with coordinator Wade Phillips. Personnel-wise, the Rams lost linebacker Cory Littleton, safety Eric Weddle, edge rushers Dante Fowler and Clay Matthews, and slot corner Nickell Robey-Coleman. They return just 52.3 percent of their defensive snaps, which ranks 28th. Offensively, Los Angeles is counting on improved offensive line play and better injury luck to fix its problems. They let Todd Gurley go and traded Brandin Cooks but are otherwise running it back. The Rams produced an average offense last year but return 87.1 percent of their snaps — third highest.

I saw this comment on the net: “We’re too weak up front on both sides of the ball and weak in the middle on D. That doesn’t equate into a playoff team IMO…”

That’s a common view. The remark is nothing special and it doesn’t matter who made it. But I just use it here as a jumping off point to offer the more optimistic view.

So. It may turn out to be that way…that they are weak in the front 7 and the OL. I mean, it’s possible. But there’s no way to know that now. Because the real condition with the front 7 and OL is that they have unknowns. Unknowns can just as easily, near as we can tell now, go the other way too.

Granted they have to get over the covid-19 limitations that make this season different, but all teams have to do that, so it’s an even playing field when it comes to that.

Does having a new D coordinator put them at a disadvantage? I dunno, having a new O coordinator in 99 didn’t. Not of course that that’s a guarantee but…it’s not unheard of for a new coordinator to do well right out of the gate. So we’ll see…but the D seems especially responsive to Staley. Unusually so, actually.

Does having unknowns at ILB put them at a disadvantage? It might. But then Fletcher worked out okay in 99, his first year starting, so it’s not like it’s inevitable that they will play poorly or be weak. It might go that way…but then they have a very interesting stock of candidates. They are lower picks and UDFAs, but then the 99 LB corps included 2 UDFAs so…it’s not automatic that they will play poorly.

Have Fangio’s recent defenses relied on high picks and “name brand known to fans” type ILBs? No. Looking at Fangio’s Chicago defenses from 2015-2018, they were ranked 14th, 15th, 10th, and 3rd.The Chicago D in 2014, before Fangio, was ranked 30th…in contrast, last year’s Rams D ranked 13th and that’s with all their issues, so they have a head start on what the Bears were in 2014. In the process of upgrading the Chicago D, their ILBs included a 2012 1st rounder who did okay (nothing special) who left after a year, but also included across 4 years 2 UDFAs and a 6th rounder (they added Roquan Smith in the first round in 2018.)

Plus of course they will be in nickel and dime packages more than in the base 3/4 anyway.

The OLBs? Also unknowns, though less so than the ILBs. The Fangio Chicago D, before getting Mack, had 35 sacks, then 37, then 42. In those 3 years before Mack only 3 Bears OLBs had more than 5 sacks–McPhee (5th rounder) had 6 in 2015, Floyd had 7 in 2016, Young (7th rounder) had 7 in 2016. So they had solid production on defense without stand-out pass rushing OLBs. The Rams have AT LEAST the potential to replicate that, and have the potential to be better than that.

Is the Rams DL “weak”? No. Listen to Farr praise Brockers for being an every down type big guy who does the dirty work. Joseph-Day is not a pass rusher but he is solid on the nose and of course Gaines is developing. You put Donald in that mix and they look solid, and that’s before Robinson comes back.

The OL. It’s obvious why guys are worried about that OL, but it’s not an automatic write-off. It includes 3 2nd rounders (ie. originally 2nd rounders not Rams 2nd round picks except 1 of them). They have 7 additions starting in 2018 (Noteboom, Allen, Demby, Evans, Edwards, Corbett, Ancrhum)…and 2 of those look like steals (Edwards and Anchrum). Only one of them looks bad (Demby). The others are developing and have experience (with the caveat that Noteboom does not look suited to play guard, but then they have 4 guys ahead of him at guard…and he does look suited to play LOT). Their coach has a long record of developing low round picks and cast offs (Kromer’s 2009 Saints superbowl OL consisted of one 2nd rounder, 2 4ths, and 2 5ths.) The starting LOT for the Bears is a 7th rounder Kromer drafted and developed in 2014 (he was a 2018 pro bowler). Kromer is also the guy who took a fading Incognito in his 11th year, after being out of football, and had him playing the best of his career (with the Bills in 2015 and 2016). He’s not a coach you write off.

So I would not write them off. Besides, they only have to be solid as a unit. Kromer’s OLs going back to the Saints and including the Bears and Bills were always solid or better (his 2009 Saints OL was one of the best in football).

So “unknown” does not automatically mean “weak.” At this point, before we actually see them, “unknown” can mean ANYTHING.

And it’s especially unlikely that 5 unknowns (D coordinator, ILBs, OLBs, DL, OL) will ALL not pan out in the same year. I mean I suppose that could happen, theoretically, but I don’t see it as being at all likely.

They have a D built around 2 stars who complement one another, a very good secondary (best I have seen for the Rams since I started following them), and an OL with a top OL coach and a lot of promising candidates with experience.

Hard to predict but I just see it on the optimistic side. There’s good reasons for that.

It takes all kinds to have a good discussion, and with unknowns like the Rams have it’s just going to lead to discussions where the optimistic and pessimistic views are both pretty prevalent.

wv wrote:

Are we agreed, this mail thing is a NEW level of domestic Republican nefariousness?

I mean….just…how…ignorant can the electorate be. This evil evil plan can only work if the american electorate has reached abysmal lows. Every conservative in america should be up in arms about this.

w

There are protests. In terms of conservatives being up in arms, near as I can tell, they are in complete bot-governed partisan mode. So to them–there really is voter fraud and the post office really is losing money, so Trump’s actions are just the right thing to do, silly liberal conspiracy theories aside. There may be no such thing as “conservatives” anymore…just right-wing partisans who live in the right-wing media bubble and echo it.

StuJackson@StuJRams
Rams OC Kevin O’Connell said he and QB Jared Goff have “worked a lot” on Goff’s fundamentals – “his base, having a more athletic stance and posture throughout the sequence of a snap.”

“To me, what that’s translating to is his natural accuracy is truly something really special.”

James Palmer@JamesPalmerTV
“He’s a competitive prick” – Eric Bieniemy on Patrick Mahomes and the mindset he has out at practice.

He actually said it twice. It was simply amazing.

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Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy on Patrick Mahomes: "You guys have been around him, you know him. He’s a competitive prick, OK. He’s a great kid, but he’s a competitive prick. … He wants to be the best at whatever he can do. "https://t.co/3CBbugTHRV pic.twitter.com/HFc6jfknm8

— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) August 15, 2020