BSR

BBC's Strictly Come Dancing has a male-male pair that sparked some controversy, not because it's 2 men but because the celebrity is a trained dancer, albeit not in ballroom. Much of the show's appeal is seeing a nondancer's evolution from klutz to dance floor star. Anyway, forget the drama and enjoy this tango. It's fantastic!

That's what I don't understand about all this sis-boom-bah over inflation coming down. Sure, it's nice that prices have stopped rising (more or less), but everything at the supermarket is still a LOT more expensive than it was 2 years ago.

Did you arrive at that conclusion by means of one of those super-sciencey "studies" you're so fond of? Cite another one, pal.

Proud owner of a 2017 Toyota RAV. What does that say about me, Dr. Freud?

"Researchers ultimately theorized that the desire to own a pricey ride is linked to lower self-esteem." The study you cite is laughably unscientific. It proves nothing (note "theorized"). It certainly doesn't prove that men who own flashy cars have small penises, only that men who were misled to believe they were smaller than average showed a desire to buy a high-performance sports car. It's a helluva stretch between a momentary reaction or impulse to actually forking over six figures of your hard-earned money for a fast ride. In any case, even if the study's finding were accurate (debatable), it is at best a generalization, yet one that you leap to embrace. What other generalizations do you buy into: blacks have ________, Muslims are ________, immigrants do ________? Yikes! I can't imagine. You (rather desperately) believe a generalization, then back it up with pseudoscience, because you have some deep-seated hatred for men who own flashy cars. I'm not saying you seethe with this hatred nor that it consumes you, but a little hatred, yes. Just as you hate (on some level) people who are armed and (for some bizarre reason) Lauren Sánchez and Jeff Bezos. Again, live and let live. Diversity and tolerance are a two-way street.

If you compare Johnsons' prices to other NYE celebrations, they're not that bad. Places charge insane amounts because they know plenty of people are willing to fork it over. If you saw what some cheese-fests are charging here in Las Vegas, you'd blanch.

* * * * * * * * SPOILER ALERT * * * * * * * * Birds of a feather, by that I'm referring to Pietro's wife Giulia, when she tells Pietro to go after Enea. All her life, she wanted Pietro to look at her the way Pietro looked at Enea during the dinner party. When she tells him to go, it is her act of love for Pietro, the husband who could never love her, at least not the way she wanted. No anger, no bitterness, no woman-scorned nastiness, she tells Pietro to go because that's what he needs to do. The scene really touched me. I watched the entire film only once (so far), but I've watched the last few minutes a few times: from the end of the dinner party, when Enea explains why the two lovers in his movie never met up again, to the pizza date that never was. When I do rewatch the whole thing, I'll try to figure out the why Enea sees Titti's ghost. I have a theory, but I really need to watch it again to be sure.

You lost me here. I was referring to children trapped in failing schools. Millions of kids have no choice about their education. Because they live at a certain address (chosen by their parents), they have to attend a certain school, no matter how horrible that school is. What bad life choices are those children guilty of?

If all 7 of you got degrees, I have to think that you grew up in at least a decent school district despite your father's financial mismanagement. Before we start attacking all kids & all parents, we need to remember that millions of American kids are trapped in horrible schools and horrible school districts. 40% of Baltimore high schools had zero students testing proficient in math. There must be some hard-working students, some good parents in those schools, but some schools are so bad that there's no hope for their students. Even if those who graduate show initiative and decide to go to college, they will be years behind where they need to be. Unfortunately, students who need remedial courses end up dropping out of college at a rate 74% higher than academically prepared students. Saddled with student loans yet no degree, college dropouts are massively f***ed. Baltimore is hardly alone. Plenty of cities have nightmarishly bad schools whose students graduate woefully unprepared for college and life, if they graduate at all. Maybe some will become entrepreneurs. Maybe some will beat all the odds and manage to finish college. But kids who don't figure a way out don't need a tongue-lashing or a motivational speech about the American dream. I also believe that the American dream is alive and well. But I also acknowledge that some Americans are shut out, through no fault of their own.

Yeah, too bad the security guard wasn't armed. He'd still be alive today, regardless of what weapon his attacker wielded.

Neither my 2 grandmothers nor my mother would ever do something as selfish as what those climate protesters did.

Where is the outcry for knife control?

If the climate protester was offended by all the f-bombs, tough sh*t. But if the Met patrons were offended by the salty language, then I agree -- the f-bombs were unnecessary. Did the protesters succeed in moving the needle on climate issues even 1 nanometer? No, of course not. In fact, this stunt probably hurt their cause. Unfortunately, they will never see that.

You are so easily triggered. Everything you dislike really sets you off: men who drive flashy cars, people who are armed, even this vapid photo shoot. I get passionate about a few issues, don't get me wrong. But a hissy fit over a Vogue photo shoot? Never. Hate less. Love more. You'll live longer.

A big thank you to @soloyo215 and all contributors to this thread because I made it a point to watch Nuovo Olimpo out of the countless items on my endless Netflix watch list thanks to all the enthusiastic recommendations here. I doubt I would have gotten around to it if I were left to my own devices. Wow, what a beautiful film: beautiful leads, beautiful Rome, and a beautiful (albeit bittersweet) ending. I started watching it a week ago but didn't get very far because I was so distracted by Enea & Pietro. Who da heck can read subtitles with such gorgeous men on screen?! With more focus and determination this time, I got into the groove of the subtitles and immersed myself in the tale, a simple story beautifully told.

Whenever someone does something you don't like, you make nasty assumptions about them: men who buy flashy cars have small penises, people who are armed are "very afraid." Maybe try to understand those who are different from you instead of just making nasty assumptions about them. Diversity and tolerance are a two-way street. An armed citizenry is the foundation of the American dream. Unfortunately, I can't delve further into this point because of the forum's ban on politics.

It's hard to discuss your point when you're so vague about who exactly has been historically denied and continues to be denied, and why. If you're referring to blacks (my guess, but please correct me if I'm wrong), remember that millions of blacks immigrate to the US, many at great sacrifice, in pursuit of the American dream. If the US were the racist horror that some like to portray, African and West Indian immigrants would have stopped coming decades ago. I agree that far too many black children face near insurmountable obstacles to success but disagree with conventional wisdom (racism, white privilege, etc.). Rather, black kids are all too often raised by single mothers and absent fathers, a combination proven to have devastating consequences for children of all races & ethnicities. Far too many children are trapped in failed government schools. Even if they manage to graduate high school, the "education" they received leaves them grade levels behind where they need to be for university. Combine single motherhood with horrible schools, kids end up in a hole almost impossible to climb out of.

Reminds me of a story told by Clarence Thomas (not political, just giving names to show it was an actual conversation) ... When Antonin Scalia asked Thomas if he wanted to go to the opera, Thomas declined. Scalia asked, "Why not? You don't like opera?" Thomas responded, "I like opera. But I don't like people who like opera."

I wrote a post recommending The Patients of Dr. García in another thread. I'm glad that others are discovering the series because it's well worth watching. I've been a big Javier Rey fan for years. Any role he plays, he completely transforms into the character. Honestly, in the other series/movies where I've seen Tamar Novas, he mostly stands around and looks pretty. But he really rose to the occasion in Dr. García. I was glad to see him hold his own against an actor of Javier Rey's caliber. Like I said in the Netflix thread, you might need some patience to get through the first 4 episodes because they're more of a history lesson. But when the storyline kicks into gear in Ep 5, it's a heckuva good story.

Now that an Illinois appellate court denied Smollett's appeal, he will have to serve his 150-day sentence. Smollett's false police report caused the Chicago PD to waste a vast amount of money and resources that should have been dedicated to dealing with real crimes. In my opinion, Smollett deserves a lot more than 150 days.

Can you prove this "fact"? I doubt it, but feel free to prove me wrong. I point this out only because you have a habit of presenting your opinions/assumptions as "fact" when they're not.

Yeah, never thought of opera as particularly harmful to the environment. When climate activists brainstorm and strategize on how to help their cause, it amazes me that stunts like this is what they come up with.

Yes, but you apparently missed the point I was making, Spark Plug.

The purchase blasted her name and photo all over the Internet for the zillionth time. Kim didn't pay six figures for a bag, she paid six figures for some (more) attention. Without hype, the Kardashians are nothing.

Driving a $300,000 car in the poorest part of town, well before guilt set in, you would be carjacked and probably beaten to a pulp.