ang

Breakdown of the Black Friday data tells us: -Consumer is weakening. -95% of sales volume was financed. -67% of that intends not to pay off within 30 days. -Roughly $1B was spent using BNPL models which are the worst debt. This points to a *really* unhealthy economy.

Notable that Black Friday sales data shows: -A 9.1% increase spend from last year. But: -A -1% in total item volume from last year. -Prices +7% higher. -Consumers bought on average 4.1% fewer items. And: -An 11% increase on buy-now-pay-later use. -Klarna specific use up 45% by volume since last year Meaning: -Roughly 11% of ALL Black Friday spending was financed through BNPL. -And 84% of all purchases were financed by credit cards, where 67% of those consumers expect to not pay the full balance in the first month. So overall: -A total of 95% of Black Friday shopping ($11.2B) was financed. -And, 67% ($7.9B) was financed on debt that consumers do not expect to be able to pay in the next 30 days. This is the sign of a weakening and stretched consumer.

How it should be

My buddy lost his job to AI. It was his job to chug thousands of gallons of water at a data center

🎯

I think about this a lot

VIDEO of moment I found out Charlie Kirk was shot. We were filming because I was teaching an O’Keefe Academy course live. I got a call from a reporter who first gave me the news about my dear friend. I am conflicted about sharing this, it is still hard to process, but felt it appropriate to share this moment as it was happening.

I remember once when I was gov contracting for the agency I was working in a remote part of the Middle East. We had a boss who I couldn't stand, he had almost gotten us killed on multiple occasions, he couldn’t make a decision for the life of him, and overall was just a terrible leader. Everyone I worked with agreed and despised him. One day after some detected surveillance which later became an engagement directly due to his leadership I looked at my counter part and said this: “Honestly, if it wasn’t your job, would you save that piece of shit?” He looked at me dead in the eyes and said: “F*ck yes I would, that is a f*cking American.” Then he got closer knowing where I was going with this and said in a stern voice: “Wouldn’t you?” It was at that point in time that I realized I was the piece of shit, not the person I was pointing my finger at. I knew that instant that I was a horrible representation of the flag that I wore on my chest and that I didn’t even deserve to be there. I immediately adjusted my attitude, but I felt ashamed for even having thought of not rendering aid or conducting combat to save another American simply because I did not agree with his decision making. It is that exact sentiment that I see in this country today. Wishing the worst, death and beyond on another American because they think differently than you. A whole lot of finger pointing and not a lot of self reflection. We all have blood on our hands at this point. Every race Every gender Every religion, political party, sexual preference, nationality, and so on… I don’t know what it’s going to take for the country to learn this lesson, but it is not going to get any better and continue getting worse until we all realize that we are all “f*cking Americans”. Give yourself the room to say “You know what, I never thought of it like that, maybe I’m wrong about this one.” Be like my counterpart was, not like I was. We’re all in this together and we’re all American whether you like it or not. My counterpart’s name was Anthony Del Vecchio callsign “Devo”. He was a great American.

"When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say". My thoughts are with Charlie Kirk's family.

I think about this student's email every day.

when life gets so bad u have to focus on pilates and female friendship

manifesting

my five year plan only requires a few acts of god

Dinner parties are the pinnacle of Life. Not monetized or instagram story dinner parties. Dinner parties done in secret that require days of preparation, dinner parties that have no purpose other than pure communion Love and pleasure with those you care about. Humanity

sorry i didn’t text you back i was naming five things i can see. four things i can touch. three things i can hear. two things i can smell. one thing i can taste

unfortunately wearing sunglasses immediately takes away both my vision and my hearing. as well as my depth perception and spatial awareness

wow you did such a great job clicking in your little spreadsheets today. super proud of you

me opening Teams every morning

Releasing the Epstein list on the Jumbotron at a Coldplay concert