BSR

Gotta click on the link because X doesn’t let this tweet be embedded. Trust me, it's worth the bother ... https://twitter.com/AtPhotness/status/1745162666673402220?t=YurGaahslVApvQuMBhovcA&s=19

Unfortunately, this disgrace plagues every level of education, from preschool to university. Narcissists who don't give a sh*t about their students because they care only about themselves ram narratives down kids' throats, and the difference between an A+ & a D- is simply how well the student parrots back what the so-called teacher wants to hear. Sadder still is that society applauds these grotesquely selfish narcissists simply because they are called teachers. We all know people who work in a field totally different from their college major. I know an art history major who works as a transportation consultant, a PhD in anthropology who became a McKinsey partner, a Wharton finance major who ended up as a fine art buying agent, etc. These people succeeded in fields very different from their major because they learned HOW to think. Contrast that with the poor bastard who only learns WHAT to think. Put them in an unfamiliar situation, and they're completely lost because they never learned critical thought. The narratives & ideologies they learned in college might make them feel good (there is no chic like victim chic), but I wouldn't hire them to sharpen pencils.

Not really an analysis, more just telling the whole story. I started noticing that month after month the government would publish a stellar jobs report with great fanfare, only to very quietly revise it downward a week later.

The film sounds great, but intense. I plan on watching at some point, but it might take me a while to ready myself first.

Some facts about that rosey jobs report ... US Labor Market Summarized: 1. 10 out of the last 11 jobs reports revised lower 2. ~25% of jobs gains in 2023 ultimately revised away 3. Government jobs accounted for 25% of December jobs gains 4. Part time jobs UP 762,000, full time jobs DOWN 1.5 million in December 5. Full-time job gains are FLAT for 2023 while part-time is up sharply 6. Inflation adjusted earnings ~3% BELOW 2021 levels But still, the initial jobs number beats expectations and prints headlines before being revised lower. Source: The Kobeissi Letter

Kathy Griffin ridiculed Bristol Palin for being fat.

If the Fresno Olive Garden closes, put me on suicide watch.

Yeah, of course they can both be. I just think that Joan Rivers deserves an extra shiny gold star for being a friend to the gays way back in the Sixties (note that Griffin was born in 1960), before Stonewall when doing so was much riskier. I'm not trying to make things a contest. Just pointing out that the world was far more gay-hostile in the 1960s than in the 1990s, when Griffin began her career.

The 2008 recession was caused by a crisis of subprime lending. Banks lent $billions to unqualified buyers who (surprise!) couldn't make good on the loans. This time, I think the recession will be sparked by a crisis in commercial lending. Left, right & center, real estate companies are giving up on commercial properties, leaving banks with $millions unpaid and commercial properties worth a fraction of their initial selling or development price (sound familiar?). Unlike the 30-year fixed mortgage on the residential side, commercial real estate loans have variable interest. The increases in the prime lending rate have resulted in many foreclosures. The high vacancy rate (work from home, pandemic aftermath) means even more foreclosures. As much as you hear about a "soft landing," I have grave doubts. If the powers-that-be do pull off a soft landing, it'll be a miracle. So here's to praying for a miracle.

Craving another guilty pleasure, I started watching High Heat, a Mexican telenovela about a team of firefighters. Unfortunately, it failed to match the trashy heights (depths?) of Fake Profile, my fave guilty pleasure to date on Netflix. Sure, the firefighters are handsome & sexy, but the series came off like it was written & directed by high school students. The gay storyline in particular annoyed me because it was as predictable as a New Year's Eve countdown. Even worse, the gay couple was limited to a few kisses, no full-on gay sex scenes (plenty of straight sex scenes, mind you) like you see in quality trash (yes, there is such a thing) like Élite seasons 1-5. Maybe the writers knew that a Mexican audience would be OK with a gay couple, but not gay sex. Venezuelan model-turned-actor Antonio Sotillo was my favorite fireman. This guy needs to do a lot more nude scenes in the future. But pretty as he is, even he can't make High Heat worth watching. Well, he does show off his spectacular ass a couple of times, so ...

For me, the pioneer "true friend & advocate" is Joan Rivers, who was a friend of the gays decades before it was fashionable. Not to diminish what Kathy Griffin has done, but I don't think of her as groundbreaking in the same way Joan was.

Average credit card debt hit a 10-year high of $6,088 per consumer as of Nov 10 this year. I'm sure that figure has gone up since because of holiday shopping.

The diversity worshippers got all vehrklempt when Lori Lightfoot was the first black & openly gay woman to become mayor of a major US city. Four years and innumerable failures later when she placed a miserable 3rd & lost reelection, nobody gave a sh*t that she was a black lesbian. All they cared was that she sucked. Cherelle Parker should come out as left-handed and convert to Islam to make all the DEIers cum without touching themselves.

Uh oh, lawsuit coming in 5 ... 4 ... I'm guessing Harvard gave Claudine Gay one helluva golden parachute, on the condition that she not sue the university. The big question is whether she can win more in a lawsuit. Even if she ends up with less by suing, she'll reap more-precious-than-gold victim chic: crying on Oprah, crying on The View, every Hollywood celebrity blowing sunshine up her ass. Maybe she'll get her own Lifetime movie.

Please BTC, don't hold back ... let it ALL out! I hope this doesn't make your head explode, but I think Kathy Griffin is hilarious, or at least she used to be a couple of decades ago. Of course, it's her life and she can do whatever she wants. But for the sake of her career, not to mention her mental well-being, she should forget politics and get back to doing what she does best. This clip gets a lot funnier at the 2:00 mark.

I kept reading that Gay would eventually have to resign, but I had my doubts because some very powerful forces were supporting her (Barack Obama at the top of the list). She hired legal counsel almost from the get-go. Now let's see how she responds to all this.

A man after my own heart! Macallan 18 when I'm feeling flush, Macallan 12 otherwise. If I ever won the lottery, I'd splurge on a bottle of Macallan 25. I only tried the 25 once. One sip ... the clouds parted, and the angels burst into song. I also like Glenlivet 18. Glenlivet 25 with all its smokey deliciousness is a nice affordable splurge. While I'm not a fan of blendeds, Johnny Black will do in a pinch. I never understood the appeal of Blue, especially since it's 5x more expensive than Black.

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.