Stupid is as Stupid Decades: “Social scientists have identified at least three major forces that collectively bind together successful democracies: social capital (extensive social networks with high levels of trust), strong institutions, and shared stories. Social media has weakened all three.” Jonathan Haidt in The Atlantic: Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid. The internet has impacted everything. I touched on this last week when researchers wondered why people are getting it on a lot less than they used to.

+ A Kush Job: “A panel that screens investments for the main Saudi sovereign wealth fund cited concerns about the proposed deal with Kushner’s newly formed private equity firm, Affinity Partners, previously undisclosed documents show. Those objections included: ‘the inexperience of the Affinity Fund management’; the possibility that the kingdom would be responsible for ‘the bulk of the investment and risk’; due diligence on the fledgling firm’s operations that found them ‘unsatisfactory in all aspects’; a proposed asset management fee that ‘seems excessive’; and ‘public relations risks.'” They invested anyway. Before Giving Billions to Jared Kushner, Saudi Investment Fund Had Big Doubts. I wonder if Jared has a laptop…

+ Of Ed and Red: Stat of the day (and era): A list ranked states by their share of residents with post-graduate degrees. Trump won 18 of the 20 states that ranked lowest, and lost 22 of the 23 at the top.

+ Deadly Drought: “As Somalia faces what experts call its worst drought in a decade, children are bearing the brunt. Parents are struggling to feed them, with nearly half of the country’s under-five population likely to suffer from acute malnutrition by June.” Somalia drought: ‘Act now or 350,000 children will die.’ (A reminder that there are other tragedies beyond Ukraine that we’re not focused on.)

+ Green Day: “My identity isn’t a golf score. Like Meredith told me this morning, if you win this golf tournament, if you lose by ten shots, if you never win another golf tournament again, I’m still going to love you, and you’re still going to be the same person.” Scottie Scheffler outshines the rest at Masters.

+ Steeeerike: There Are Perfect Games, And Then There’s What Roki Sasaki Just Did.