Weekender… not

1) Like George Orwell’s 1984 come and gone, the CIA’s 2015 predictions of what the world would be like…. from  way back in 2000.

The only one they appear to have got really wrong is about the population in many African countries declining. (It rose.) Hmm.

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2) And how was your holiday? Rich Kids of Instagram photos.

Dis is home for the hols. Of course.

(Dis was last hols)

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3) The Idea That Wealthy Men Attract Beautiful Women Is A Myth.

Viva La Sense Of Humor. (I hope.)

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4) Confessions Of A Fixer. For 14 years this onetime academic adviser and college basketball coach used test keys to cheat for hundreds of athletes, helping them meet the eligibility requirements of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Why did he do it?

“…He wanted a big-time coaching job… …He has met plenty of Division I coaches… He thought he was their friend, that they would return the favors …paid him back through camp appearances… But when it came time to hire, they didn’t want him in their club.”

“…His fear of being discovered …led him to do much of the coursework himself, sometimes not even telling the players. He made some students believe they were completing the classes… …That’s how some coaches preferred it, he says…”

Say your child was a massively talented basketball player, j-ust shy of a couple credits. Say you’re a coach, your kids have worked so hard, they all deserve to win. But it is after all a “team effort”, and your best player is j-ust shy of a couple credits.

One parent claims no knowledge of “the fixer”. When contacted with some record proof, he declines to comment.

What would you do? (No, don’t, I don’t think it’s an easy one to answer at all.)

“The fixer” btw is also a parent. See, on the one hand, you probably want the career and the money, at least in part so you can give your kids the best that money can buy. On the other hand, if it’s shady, what if you get caught? There’s another hand on which is scrawled What If It Were Your Child Who Was Wildly Talented And Didn’t Get This Opportunity Because Of A Couple Credits and then there’s also What If Instead It Was Your Child Deprived Of A Rightful Place (As Defined By Credits Which Bear No Real Relation To Sheer Sporting Ability) and it was just a thought, that aside from running out of hands very quickly, there is simply no way you come out of this one (if you’re invested) without displaying a little selfishness…….

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5) The Dark Side Of The Moon. Not the Transformers movie. The story of Buzz Aldrin, second guy on the moon.

He holds 3 patents for Space Stuff, he came back from the moon and had an alcohol problem, a few divorces and was selling cars at one point. His father never really got over him being second man on the moon (petitioned the US Postal Service about it, no less). He uh, also made a rap video with Snoop Dogg – titled “Rocket Experience,” no less – and was on freaking Dancing With The Stars (say what?!) and – I’m already exhausted from all that, aren’t you? But it goes on, and I just have to keep reading, and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Fiction.

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6) Nutty Like The Chocolates? Guy From Belgium flies to Austin, Texas because Facebook says he should be friends with some guy there and he wants to find out if it’s true.

What would YOU do, if Facebook suggested you should “friend” this guy?

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7) JD’s skit this week is How To Kill A Dragon (cameo by Rockstar), as she flaunts her Christmas pressie after a certain animation we finally, finally got round to watching, over the hols 🙂

Have a good week, dears…