Lotus-eater

Can't blame Rassie for wanting to jump on Ruben a lot.

https://fortune.com/2026/03/05/gen-z-women-new-face-of-unemployment-low-grades-and-bad-health-are-to-blame-new-research-warns/ Millions of workers are bracing for AI layoffs and restructurings. But a growing slice of Gen Z isn’t even making it onto the corporate ladder in the first place—and increasingly, they’re young women. PwC’s new Women in Work Index, which digs into Labour Force Survey data on 16‑ to 24‑year‑olds between 2020 and 2024, shows that around 1 million young people in the U.K. are now classed as NEET (not in education, employment, or training). Female unemployment has been drifting downward since the mid‑2010s (aside from the COVID spike), but that progress is now reversing. In 2024, the jobless rate for young women jumped from 9.5% to 11.8%—the fastest annual rise since PwC’s index began. And in the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, released last month, the overall NEET rate ticked up to 12.8%, driven almost entirely by women: While the number of young men locked out of work actually went down quarter on quarter, 13,000 new women found themselves out of the job market. While young men still slightly outnumber young women overall, the numbers are starting to skew female. In other words: The gap is closing—and fast. A sudden shift in unemployment: Why are young women being left behind? Just two years ago, young men dominated the NEET data. When Fortune first covered the trend in 2024, one in five men under the age of 25 was unemployed—and not actively looking for work, either—despite having just graduated. Experts at the time said the key reason for the phenomenon was that women were more flexible in accepting job offers that didn’t perfectly align with their career goals post-pandemic. Essentially, male Gen Z graduates were holding out for dream jobs that never materialized because the number of white-collar roles shrank. Instead of taking up a part-time job or an entry-level position outside their field, they disengaged. But new data suggests that for young women today, unemployment is less about choice. PwC pointed to two key drivers behind the sudden surge in female NEETs: poor grades and deteriorating health. One in four young women who left high school with low grades ends up a NEET, compared with one in five young men. When low grades collide with a health condition, the damage compounds brutally: A young woman with both is almost four times as likely to be a NEET as the average young woman—48% versus 12.2%. The reason it’s causing unemployment now, all of a sudden, comes down to the sudden shift in career choices for young people who aren’t bookworms, says Lewis Maleh, CEO of global recruitment agency Bentley Lewis. “When young men leave school without strong grades, there are well-established routes waiting, like construction, trades, logistics, which are all hiring right now and don’t require further education,” Maleh explains. “Young women with the same low education go towards retail, care, or hospitality. These sectors have been shrinking and offer limited progression.” ...This is only being compounded further by the current AI race. The increased focus on tech roles is further limiting the pool of jobs available to women, who are less likely to have studied STEM subjects. Another recruiter, Zara Amiry, echoes that the rate of female unemployment is a direct reflection of the roles available right now. “Certain roles tend to have more male applicants,” she adds.

If you need a place to stay in Palm Springs for the upcoming gathering and prefer traditional architecture (Monterey Colonial Revival) with some Hollywood history, you can buy Donna Reed's old house: https://robbreport.com/shelter/celebrity-homes/gallery/donna-reed-former-palm-springs-home-photos-1237674483/

Did AI or a human make that spelling error ("Retun On Investment")? Students who are nonchalantly cheating their way through college using AI will further degrade the value of their degree in the job market.

"Common sense" is just another way saying the market went the way you think it should for one week. Higher unemployment increases the chances for more rate cuts by the Fed, which is usually bullish for stocks. So color me very skeptical of your crystal ball. Time in the market is the best strategy for the highest returns.

Why do you suppose that you are better at assessing the impact of what's going in the Middle East on the future earnings of 30 American stocks than the people who traded about 2.75 billion shares of those stocks in the past week? And if you think that people are significantly underpricing the risks, you should have a large short position. You have a 50% chance of being right.🤪

Nothing unhealthy about seed oils: "Some wellness influencers warn against consuming seed oils, blaming them for a range of health problems and characterizing them as toxic. Scientific studies consistently show otherwise." https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2025/the-evidence-behind-seed-oils-health-effects

The banks faced a liquidity crunch. Contrary to popular belief, financial firms (excluding the car companies) paid back the TARP funds with interest, which, along with asset sales, netted taxpayers about $50 billion.

https://robbreport.com/shelter/homes-for-sale/apartment-complex-private-enclave-san-francisco-1237566764/

I guess the short sellers who did very well were the "rightful owners."

California strawberries look better on the outside than they taste on the inside...just like the people. 🤪

The double standard among straight men also has a plausible biological basis because his wife having sex with another woman does not pose a paternity threat.

Cornelius Hackl: Well, what am I now? Horace: You're an impertinent fool, that's what you are!

"It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig [or dog] satisfied." --John Stuart Mill

About a dozen years ago they dug up a large stretch of Palm Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs to upgrade the sewer and water lines. Guess what else they dug up? A lot of big roaches, which scurried all over the sidewalks. Unfortunately, you can't completely get rid of them.

There's this group, which is gay-friendly and meets at Starbase 505, which took over the military-themed room in Antique Galleries. https://www.meetup.com/palm-springs-board-gamers/ (Meetup's search suggested that I might also like a lesbian group's Build a Vulva workshop 🫣)

As someone who has been carjacked at gunpoint, mugged at gunpoint, and punched and mugged, I'm very leery of putting myself into a potentially dangerous situation, so I'm not going to stop on the side of the road at night. Hope you have a full and swift recovery.

If you're considering investing some of the money in stocks (which you should do if you don't plan to spend some portion of it for another 5+ years), you might want to look at a simple target date fund, which will give you an idea of a good stock-bond allocation based on when you plan to retire (or are already retired). Being in Europe, you'll have to decide whether you want to invest solely in European stocks, the U.S., or the entire world (the US stock market has been outperforming international stocks for quite a while but international stocks beat the US last year, which may signal a long-term shift or it could be just a temporary blip). If you are domiciled in Europe, you'll also need to consider your country's tax rules.

Bogleheads tend to like PlanVision, which is a good endorsement.

The pen is mightier than the sword:

It's not the landlord's responsibility to provide her with a 2 bedroom apartment that she can afford. Too bad if the entitled snowflake needs to get a roommate or to move to a small studio. Lower paying jobs are not designed to be exhausting; plenty of high paying jobs are also exhausting. If she wants a higher standard of living, she needs to work toward a better paying job or move to a more affordable location, which people do all of the time.

https://robbreport.com/shelter/homes-for-sale/villa-santandrea-lake-garda-1237542016/ The guest house 😁: