BSR

Men of a certain age ... it happens. Looks pretty good for a 63yo. Either this guy secretly wanted to to get caught (don't ask me why), or he is so clueless that he actually thought no one would see his videos on the Internet. He wouldn't be the first case of a smart guy woefully lacking common sense.

Anyone know where his porn vids can be found? Asking for a friend.

She threatened to commit suicide in front of her children, so there is that.

Her new look is a monumental improvement over last year's. To think, Madonna has all the money in the world to pay the most skilled plastic surgeon yet ended up looking like this ...

I have a live tree this year, a teeny tiny pine in a pot. It's cute as a button but since it's not big enough to give off that wonderful pine scent, I bought scented candles to make up for it. Candlemakers have really upped their game 'cuz I swear the candles smell like a real tree.

If Dick's has closed permanently, never to return, then that is sad news indeed. Dick's might have had its shortcomings, but fun could be had. I certainly did plenty of times. I'll hold out hope that the owner figures something out, but at the same time, gotta be realistic about the prospects because Dick's was always a precarious financial proposition.

So they have no idea which Super Bowl they're watching?? Horrors

Yeah, the "being attacked for who I love" line made me puke. STFU.

Even crazier is a New Yorker can make almost $200K yet still qualify for "affordable" housing.

We have hit record highs of credit card debt, school loans, home equity loans, commercial loans, and federal govt debt. But according to some, the economy is just fine and recession will not happen. Even worse, these same starry-eyed optimists accuse those of us worried about unprecedented debt levels of pushing a political agenda or a preferred narrative. Yeah, uh huh, just keep insisting it's just a flesh wound ...

Pope Benedict was in very poor health the last ~2 years of his life. For example, he issued a written statement in Dec 2020 that he had lost the ability to speak. As much as the Church leadership strives to project peace and unity, political conflict has always raged behind the scenes. I agree that Francis waited until well after Benedict's death to make his gay-friendly announcement, but it wasn't to avoid a duel with the Pope Emeritus, because Benedict was in no condition to mount a challenge. Instead, it was a politically motivated decision to pacify the conservatives. To make such an announcement while Benedict was still alive or even shortly after his death would have been viewed (imo) as very disrespectful.

I am on topic. If/when a recession hits, something will have caused it. I think that cause will be unprecedented and unsustainable levels of debt. Before the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, similar conversations were taking place between those predicting bad times ahead and those insisting the economy would keep chugging along. Hard to believe now, but plenty of people in the aughts insisted that the good times would keep rolling. In fact, those people then sounded a lot like some of the posts in this thread.

The editorial written by the former Enron advisor is cut off. It looks like the last page is missing. I'd love to read more from the man who predicted that the economic impact of the Internet would be minimal, comparable to that of the fax machine.

Median net worth also rose significantly prior to the 2008 crash because real estate values were skyrocketing. Look how that turned out. What has far outpaced inflation is debt levels. Not just federal govt debt, every form of debt has hit record highs: credit cards, home equity loans, school loans, commercial loans, you name it. Eventually and inevitably when our economy hits a point where we just can't borrow any more, a gigaton of sh*t will hit the fan.

The official line is that the priesthood is a ministry conformed to the life and work of Jesus Christ. The Church didn't always require celibacy -- priests could marry in early Christianity. Since the Church imposed celibacy for the holy orders in medieval times and the canon of papal infallibility started only in 1870, the celibacy requirement could technically be revoked. But realistically, yes, the likelihood is virtually zero.

But do pedophiles have any interest in adult relationships? My theory is that pedophiles used to seek out the priesthood because back in the day a priest had both access to children and unquestioned moral authority. The Church hierarchy made a horrible problem a thousand times worse by plunging into denial ("but they're men of God!"). The Church finally pulled its head out of the sand and confronted the issue: much more stringent screening of seminary candidates and immediate & thorough investigations into any report of sexual misconduct. To survive this tragedy, the Church must maintain the strictest vigilance.

I've been wanting to attend the LA nude party for quite some time, but all these reports of super-dim conditions worry me. Do you think Matt would be OK with this, or a bit much?

Ugly? No, that watch is f*ckin' hideous. As popular as the Nautilus is, I always found it ugly. The Tiffany blue dial takes ugly to a whole other level.

A red letter day indeed. There has long been a conflict between conservatives and liberals in the Church hierarchy. It's all behind closed doors, of course, but one does hear things. This latest move by Pope Francis is big victory for the liberals whereas it must have thrown the conservatives in a tizzy, LOL. While Pope Francis appears quite healthy and vigorous, he turned 87 yesterday. As a practical matter, he simply won't be around much longer. The LGBT friendliness of the RCC all depends on the political leanings of the next pope. This shift by Francis reflects the attitude of North American and Western European Catholics. While the Church does teach that homosexuality is a sin, I've found that the vast majority of practicing Catholics to be very gay-friendly. It's similar to the divide on the Church's teaching on abortion. Despite the Church's staunch opposition to abortion, so many Catholic women are quietly pro-choice.

US Debt Clock What does statistical analysis say about $33.9 Trillion of federal government debt? What is the propaganda trying to mislead us into thinking about that staggering amount of debt? At the end of September 2019, the federal government debt was "only" $22.7 trillion. The federal debt has increased by more than $11.2 trillion in just over 4 years. The federal debt to GDP ratio was 33.73% in 1980. Now the debt is actually greater than the annual GDP, with a ratio of 122.16%. Anyone who thinks that much debt is healthy or OK is whistling past the graveyard.

Michael Burry, founder of Scion Capital, started sounding the alarms about subprime lending way back in 2003, five long years before the September 2008 Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. He bet big on an impending collapse, risking plenty of his own money and much more of his investors'. After (I'm guessing) many sleepless nights and an investor near-revolt, he did end up being right, making himself a $100 million profit and $700 million for his investors. Yes, the economy will always go through booms & busts, but the signs of an impending recession are very much real, not just a bunch of tea leaves. Hindsight being 20/20, it's pretty damn obvious now that you couldn't lend $trillions to unqualified buyers without some dire consequences. Some troubling signs loom today. The one that worries me most is the total amount of debt: personal (credit cards, school loans, home mortgages, etc.), commercial, and of course government (just checked the National Debt Clock, $33.9 Trillion!). If you add up all the debt and set it relative to GDP, the multiple is at a record-shattering high and is accelerating like it's racing for pinks. But hey, I could be wrong. If a recession doesn't hit between now and this time next year, feel free to serve up a towering plate of crow for my consumption.

Yeah, me too ...

34yo Martin Klizan, who retired a couple of years ago, is making a comeback. Yup, he's starting in the Futures and everything. I always found him sexy AF.

Of course stats matter, but so do perceptions. Shoplifting is so bad in San Francisco that drug stores have resorted to putting frozen food under lock & key. Such a measure doesn't mean that I am much more likely to get murdered or mugged in the city, but who wants to live in a place where toothpaste & Hot Pockets have to be bolted down? Please note that the property crime statistics in San Francisco fail to tell the real story because stores don't even bother to report thefts less than $950.

I wonder if Vulcans were offended when Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto put on prosthetic ears.