Man About Canton: Billionaire Donations

Did you know …

In the past month, we have seen some of the largest donations by three of the richest billionaires in the United States. The biggest was a $3 billion donation by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The 32-year-old billionaire and his Quincy-raised wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, announced that they would commit $3 billion to the bold goal of beating all diseases into submission by the end of the century. The monies will go to bolster the tens of billions of dollars spent each year by the federal government on life sciences, a field in which the Boston region’s universities, hospitals, research institutes, and biotech companies are second to none. So most of that $3 billion should find its way into the Boston research areas.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates recently donated $210 million to the University of Washington in Seattle. The gift from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be used to construct a building to house its Population Health Initiative, which is aimed at improving people’s health around the world.

Michael Bloomberg, the former three-term mayor of New York City and a Boston native, recently donated $50 million to the Boston Museum of Science. It was the largest gift in the institution’s 186-year history.

The Boston Children’s Hospital recently was given approval to construct a new 11-story building, adding 71 new beds to the 404 beds already there. The estimated cost for the expansion is $1 billion.

The $2.1 billion Wynn Boston Harbor casino in Everett is a 3.3 million-square-foot development along the Mystic River and will include a 29-story hotel, retail stores, restaurants, and a harbor walk along the river. It will be the largest construction project in Bay State history.

Talking about casinos, of the 101 million visitors to America’s casinos, nearly half were age 50 or older. American casinos reported over $66 billion in gambling revenue, and much of that profit came from these older gamblers. In 1978, there were only two states with casinos, Nevada (Las Vegas) and New Jersey (Atlantic City). Today there are 1,400 casinos operating in 40 states. The most popular attractions for older gamblers are the slots and video poker. MAC can attest to that as he recently spent some time in Las Vegas and spent his money on video poker machines … with no luck.

Harvard University’s 150 dining hall workers recently ended a strike by approving a new five-year labor contract that will guarantee wages of about $35,000 annually and they won’t have to pay more for health insurance.

Effective December 1, 2016, when homes built before 1975 are sold, they must be equipped with smoke detectors with a 10-year life span.

According to the Genworth Financial Report, the following is an estimated cost of long-term care: In a nursing home, it is $6,844 a month; $3,628 in assisted-living facilities; and $3,861 for full-time professional services at home.

The Sharon High School boys soccer team won its first Hockomock Davenport Division title in 22 years, finishing the regular season at 9-3-4.

It is interesting to note that some south shore police departments asked stores in their towns not to sell teenagers certain household items just before Halloween. The list included toilet paper, soap, shaving cream, eggs, and spray paint, all of which are items generally used in Halloween pranks.

Social Security recipients will get a paltry three tenths of a percent (0.3 percent) cost of living adjustment effective January 1, 2017. That would mean an average increase of less than $4 on a monthly check. Medicare will then take most of that $4 increase by adding $2.70 on its monthly premium, which is being raised from $104.90 to $107.60. Medicare Part B premiums cannot increase more than the Social Security increase. However, new enrollees and high-income retirees are not covered by that provision so they would face higher Medicare premiums.

Last year, the median household income in Massachusetts was $73,015 while the national median was $57,764, according to federal government data.

Of all the shoes sold in the United States today, 99 percent are imported.

Evangelist Billy Graham turned 98 years old on Monday, November 7. MAC once met Mr. Graham while on a class trip with Northeastern University at his pavilion at the New York World’s Fair in 1964.

It is “hope” that gives life meaning, and “hope” is based on the prospect of being able one day to turn the actual world into a possible one that looks better.

That is all for now folks. See you next week.

Joe DeFelice can be reached at manaboutcanton@aol.com.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=34811

Posted by Joe DeFelice on Nov 18 2016. Filed under Featured Content, Man About Canton, Opinion. Both comments and pings are currently closed.