amarante

I skimmed the letters - they are very bizarre - even taking into account they are all family members, these people had to reach Coach Shah's letter had a real WTF moment for me because he is talking about the oldest son getting into med school - which is of course an achievement. But then the next sentence is that Jen (and presumably Coach) never paid any money for his expenses because the son earned a scholarship, took out loans and saved money. Jen Shah for a number of years unquestionably had enough money to spend on clothing, bags, jewelry and other expensive stuff even though some of it was replica but she never set up a fund for the son. What kind of twisted priorities are those as most decent parents would have set up the fund immediately - and maybe given up a few hundred thousand dollars worth of wanton luxury. Yes I realize that there is some question as to whether the fund would be clawed back but when Jen was spending wildly in all those years, she certainly didn't think she was going to wind up in prison with huge restitution and penalties.

Yes restitution is on top of the seizures although it doesn't appear that she actually has that amount to seize. She might have money stashed in the Cayman Islands but I also think - even with her fakes - she had a very expensive lifestyle. She rented expensive homes for two seasons and even the home she is now living in which she says is a downgrade is pretty nice by most standards. She also seemed to entertain - that party for Meredith in the first episode wasn't cheap and she held a few more events that were expensive. While BRAVO picks up expenses for travel and when the ladies eat out together, their parties are paid for by the individual housewives which is why some housewives never host anything - or when they host it is relatively modest dinner parties or lunches which they cook themselves. Some of her stuff was authentic and even the fake stuff when multiplied by all of the items still cost much more than most people spend on clothing and jewelry.

I don’t understand your point. The Guidices were able to split their confinement only because Teresa had a relatively short sentence. I used the example as another way in which it is standard for the Federal government not to necessarily incarcerate white collar criminals as soon as they are convicted because there is no risk to the community if they don’t go to prison immediately. Jen isn’t receiving special treatment as it is pretty standard to have white collar criminals be able to report to prison at a time in the future. What is the difference since their sentence will start whenever they actually are in prison 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Yeah I didn't get any of that from this episode - was someone projecting? I didn't even get vibes that her family was especially wealthy. They owned basic middle class homes especially since the grandparents had bought the house 40 years ago - hadn't renovated it and probably cost them $150,000 or so when they purchased it - if that. I just rolled my eyes because I knew whatever house they purchased was going to require major renovation because he was in construction and therefore it would make no sense to pay "retail" for a house that had been flipped and probably not as well as he would do. Not sure why the assumption is that she was the "catch" and he was a wastrel. Assuming he was a General Contractor in Florida he would have been making a very good living - especially in the past few years when any decent contractor was booked for months.

Typically white collar criminals in Federal Court are not immediately taken into custody while awaiting sentencing. She isn't receiving special treatment. Some where there are couples with minor children are even allowed to serve the sentences concurrently if there is a relatively short sentence like Teresa. Punishment is inevitable and these people represent no risk to society or flight risk and they are going to serve time.

I am not surprised at all as a lot of the stuff that is essentially just branded is high end replicas. I am in Los Angeles and a lot of wealthy women have high end mirror image quality replica. You can literally get almost anything and it is almost impossible to tell from the authentic unless you are so expert thst yu can recognize minor differences in stitches or the serial numbers. They aren’t cheap as the good ones can cost about what a decent leather purse would cost in a good store. But some of them are extremely expensive if you want a crocodile or snake Birkin or ultra high end Chanel.

He seems like a genuinely kind soul who truly sees the beauty in every bride.

Based on the article I assume because there being movement on the case Two earlier lawsuits brought against Umansky have already been settled, while Hakim is seeking no less than $35 million in damages in his litigation. That lawsuit and his agent’s, which have been consolidated, are set for mediation this week; should it not result in a settlement, a trial looms next year. Umansky has filed a motion to have the case thrown out of court. He declined to answer a lengthy set of questions but issued a statement through a representative

Today's Los Angeles Times had a *long* article detailing the scam Maurico ran with the self dealing sale of the Malibu mansion. I wonder if it is too long for Kyle and the others to read. I am sure Garcelle and Sutton have read it. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-12-12/umansky-malibu-mansion-real-housewives-beverly-hills-obiang-netflix-equatorial-guinea

Also New York City has extremely protective landlord tenant laws including rent stabilization. It was so heavy handed and inaccurate. While it is correct that so many "blue collar/working class" neighborhoods have become gentrified, the landlord can't raise the rent for the current tenants that much. He can only raise a certain statutory percentage when the lease ends. What happens is that when a tenant vacates, they can raise the rent significantly for new tenants - for the most part although even then there are controls. My friend used to rent an apartment on St. Marks Place for $50 a month - those were the good old days. Granted the toilet was in the hallway.

He wouldn't have had a great time at the strip club - at least in my opinion. He would be in an atmosphere where everyone was wildly intoxicated. I am not a big drinker and there is nothing less fun than being in a crowd of people who are super drunk. I can only imagine how terrible it would be if you actively wanted to be pissed drunk along with them. If he did drink, he would feel guilty for a variety of reasons including anger at himself for feeling whatever bad feelings he has about himself which cause him to feel that he must drink I don't get the Richa dislike at all. I am just surprised that she hung around for 10 years waiting to get married to someone who isn't exactly a prize. She is getting past the age when it would be easy for her to find another significant other - assuming that she would also like to have a children or two. She is already at the point where fertility might be difficult.

I don't have an issue with the bachelor party especially since this is when all is said and done a reality show that is being filmed and so amp up the spectacle. I am sure many of the Chicago people showed up because it would be a fun weekend and also because it would be an interesting experience to see how a reality show is filmed. I do have issues with the Amrit's *resentment* over Vishal not showing up for the strip club bacchanal. Amrit must know that Vishal has problems with alcohol even without the knowledge of Crohn's disease. ETA Although Amrit knew about Crohn's, as I recall he was not aware that drinking exacerbated the condition and often left Vishal extremely ill - much more "hungover" than someone who did not have the disease would be and I would also assume that drinking and suffering the effects from that would potentially cause more serious effects including having to eventually have a colostomy bag. As I stated after the first episodes Vishal's drinking problem was quite obvious because if you don't have a drinking problem you are able to refrain from drinking AND - most importantly - you don't feel as if you need to have a drink in order to have people like you. Why Richa chose to have a large wedding when there were real issues of Vishal drinking - both from a mental point of view (alcoholism) and from a real physical health point of view (Crohn's) who knows? Maybe the invitations went out and it was like a steam roller that couldn't be stopped especially since it was scheduled for shooting and it would have been a huge big deal if the party had been cancelled. I also think that Vishal's behavior at the wedding was so beyond any kind of being slightly inebriated that it might have been the proverbial last straw. But why anyone would be that angry if a friend didn't show up to attend a "strip club" bachelor party with what - 40 other people there. Many of those are from out of town who he doesn't see that often. If a friend calls and says they can't be at your party because they are going through a difficult time - here essentially Vishal was saying that Richa was threatening to leave him, I wouldn't make it hard for the friend - I would just say I am so sorry that you are having problems. I wish I didn't have this party because otherwise I would come over to be with you.

There was a Forensics Files episode where a tree also was used to convict a murderer. The husband had filled up all of his wife's orifices with gasoline and then lit her up in order to destroy evidence. He buried her underneath a tree - or what was left of her. A few years later, his girlfriend who had been a witness to the whole thing for some reason told the authorities and a botanist was able to prove by the size of the rings of the tree that there had been contamination by gasoline during the year the wife "disappeared" as they were smaller than normal and gas in the soil contaminated it and impeded the normal growth of the tree.

I am willing to accept a certain amount of suspension of disbelief because everyone knows that shows about firemen, policemen and lawyers are not accurate but are tweaked for the storyline. But this was for some reason just a bridge too far because no one would be placed in this kind of position which could be abused in the wrong hands who had shown themselves to be unfit for normal fire work. Yes there is often incompetence being promoted and shuttled around but not in this kind of position in which there is a lot of power over individuals. NYPD Blue did a really good job of portraying IAB or the "Rat Squad" as it was called. There was one IAB guy who showed up throughout the run who was essentially a good guy in a difficult position who often looked the other way in order to not jam someone up for something minor - As he said - Everything is a situation and so he wanted to avoid putting cops in difficult situations in which they might be tempted to protect another cop for whatever reason.

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I thought Jen Shah was terrible until I discovered Real Housewives of Vancouver on Tubi this week. Jodi from that franchise makes Jen Shah seem like the essence of good natured kindness and rationality. Jodi literally cackles as she insults and trolls the other women - resembles Cruella Deville down to the ratty fur she always wears - I mean literally bizarre ratty fur shrugs. I guess women put up with Jen because it is a show and they assume all of this is good for the ratings. I really doubt that any of them actually have relationships where they see each other beyond shooting at this point. Lisa and Meredith are no longer friends. Heather and Whitney are estranged and the others seem to be willing to end friendships for a bit of screen time. My question is whether this kind of toxicity is actually beneficial to a show because NYC and BH both became unwatchable to many viewers because of the extreme toxicity. NY was essentially cancelled and retooled with a completely new cast and BH is on "pause" while I assume the powers that be are trying to figure out who to fire and how to move forward. I used to enjoy this franchise but at this point I truly am just fast forwarding and waiting for the denouement for Jen Shah and wondering when the reunion will be filmed in terms of whether she will be available. 🤣🤫

Yes I am not understanding this either. Someone who has graduated magna cum laude would have a lot of job possibilities and selecting a non profit would probably provide a much looser work environment as well as being in line with her ethics. Obviously there are stodgy conservative non-profit organizations but I would imagine in Seattle there would be more that would be relaxed in terms of dress codes. Professions don't necessarily define how people look. I am an attorney - graduated from a very prestigious law school but worked at a record company for many years where it was perfectly fine for me to have "rock star" type of hair. My prior job was at a Wall Street firm where I had a very conservative blow dried "bob"

I think the difference is that Vishal seems to be exhibiting alcoholic tendencies. I believe he has stated at least twice - if not more - that he needs a drink to become the "fun" guy. This is really one of the hallmarks of alcoholic behavior - when you need the drink because you can't have fun or relax without a drink (or any drug). Most people who don't have drinking problems don't *need* to drink and would be able to very easily go without drinking without it really causing them to feel that they are missing out on something. Vishal is not a normal drinker in my opinion. When you are falling down drunk - verging on black out drinking - that isn't a healthy lifestyle especially when it appears this is relatively frequent. This isn't have a cocktail before dinner and two glasses of wine - this is getting wasted. Whether Richa drinks when she is partying or out to dinner is irrelevant. She wasn't completely wasted during the wedding ceremonies. As for the whole telling or not telling the gossip, as someone who actually did know that her best friend's boyfriend was cheating, it is not always the easiest thing to tell them immediately because often you wind up with the person blaming you. So it is not uncommon to think about how you are going to handle the situation and even discuss the best way to proceed with other friends. It wasn't as if they delayed it so that Monica was in a worst situation than if they had told her immediately.

It absolutely amazes me when people like on a reality show when there is footage indicating that they lied. Are people such habitual liars that they don't even realize they are lying.

Got to come to the defense of that accent as someone who has the slightest trace of a Brooklyn accent. 🤣 It is very faint and most people can't detect the borough of my origins but I don't pronounce the "or" so it is indeed mirra and harra (not horror). I am sure there are some others in there that a linguist could pick up as well. However I don't pronounce ideas as ideers 🤣

Or when they think that a Craftsman is choosing a contemporary style home. They obviously have not the slightest whiff of architectural history knowledge and how Craftsman/Arts & Crafts was a late nineteenth century/early 20th Century distinctive design movement in reaction to both Victorian excess and industrial machine age mass production.

I vote for her having bolted - seems like that is what was being set up as the storyline. It will provide some storylines where Raptor attempts to make it work. As I recall - although they jumped several years - the plot was that Conrad left the hospital and took on an easy gig as a private doctor to rich people so that he could parent Gigi. Of course Raptor is rich enough to hire multiple excellent nannies. The only suspense is whether she will return.

Weren't there logistical reasons for them not to marry - he is in another state - was it Kentucky? Is she willing to leave Miami where her parents are?

I think the cautionary tale is that women need to think ahead. I would suspect that Bali got a typical divorce settlement from her wealthy husband. She probably got generous child support payments which often included college and graduate school tuition. She also probably got a lump sum settlement of some kind because spousal support is not given generally anymore. I think Bali misrepresented the housing issue. It is very typical for the settlement to provide that the wife is allowed to stay in the house until the children move out and then the house is sold and the settlement provides for how the sales proceeds are divided. If the ex husband paid mortgage and taxes for the past 15 years it would not be uncommon for the husband to get the proceeds - but the parties are free to negotiate whatever they want in the settlement, If the child is living at college and husband is paying tuition AND living expenses then Bali would not have been entitled to child support since she no longer had any expenses in terms of supporting a child. Bali I suspect lived above her means and never thought ahead to what would happen when the negotiated child support payments ended. I am not really that sympathetic to women in her situation who had the resources in order to not wind up having to move back to their parents' home. I am sympathetic to women who are trapped in abusive relationships or whose reality was that they struggled to support their families on relatively low incomes after divorce because realistically even if the husband wasn't a deadbeat there wasn't enough income to support two separate households.

Yes the most recent episode convinced me that he had a drinking problem. If you don't have a drinking problem, it really is not problem to not drink. It was telling to me when he said that he wasn't the "fun" guy if he wasn't drinking. The back story on Bali would be interesting. As I recall she had presented herself as a successful businesswoman in the prior seasons. I would imagine the divorce agreement specified that she could stay in the house until the child reached a certain age and moved out - which was what happened. I realize that adults live with parents to a greater extent in the Indian culture but I still can't imagine that any middle aged woman would choose to live with her parents if she had any financial ability to rent an apartment for herself. She must have no income at all - child support probably stopped when the kid became a certain age.