Links - 6th October 2016

Trump's 1995 Return Shows Good Tax Policy at Work - "They called it “a tax provision that is particularly prized by America’s dynastic families, which, like the Trumps, hold their wealth inside byzantine networks of partnerships, limited liability companies and S corporations.” Every tax or financial professional I have heard from about the New York Times piece found this characterization rather bizarre. The Times could have just as truthfully written that the provision was “particularly prized by America’s small businesses, farmers and authors,” many of whom depend on the NOL to ensure that they do not end up paying extraordinary marginal tax rates -- possibly exceeding 100 percent -- on income that may not fit itself neatly into the regular rotation of the earth around the sun."

Why I Switched My Endorsement from Clinton to... | Scott Adams' Blog - "Most of the job of president is persuasion. Presidents don’t need to understand policy minutia. They need to listen to experts and then help sell the best expert solutions to the public. Trump sells better than anyone you have ever seen, even if you haven’t personally bought into him yet. You can’t deny his persuasion talents that have gotten him this far."

Boycott of world chess championship 'would hurt women in Iran' - "One of Iran’s most respected chess players has hit back at calls to boycott next year’s women’s world championship in Tehran over rules about the wearing of the hijab. A number of chess players, including the US women’s champion, Nazí Paikidze, have called for a boycott of the February 2017 games over concerns that they will have to comply with the Islamic republic’s compulsory headscarf law"
Naturally, the people who cried bloody murder over the French burkini bans are silent about Iran's mandatory hijab

LGBT groups barred from attending UN aids conference - "A group of 51 Muslim countries has blocked LGBT rights organisations from attending a United Nations conference on Aids next month."

Philadelphia Police disguised a spy truck as a Google Street View car

I Got Robbed in Tokyo - Stan Chart Says It's My Fault

Europe on a finer cartographic scale - "2) The geographically fragmented and culturally diverse zone from the Low Countries down to Italy’s Po River Valley is seems to be characterized by a large number of economically vibrant cities/regions. The only common variable that I’ve ever been able to point to for this area is that they were under Habsburg hegemony for a very long time.
3) There are zones of poorer nations, such as Spain, which are wealthier than most regions of wealthier regions (e.g., Catalonia is more prosperous than the north of England or rural France across the border)."

Grueling Household Tasks Of 19th Century Enjoyed By Suburban Woman - "In all, Brinkworth devoted nearly 10 hours to soap-making, a task which, until the late 20th century, was not considered an enjoyable leisure-time activity. She also spent all day Friday shopping for the necessary ingredients and supplies, which included eucalyptus oil, fresh rosemary leaves, lavender essential oil, colored wax, lye, coconut oil, palm oil, glycerin, rubbing alcohol, various fruits and dried flowers, and a soap mold. Soap-making is not the only arduous 19th-century chore Brinkworth enjoys in her spare time. She also dips her own candles, re-upholsters foot stools, and makes her own clay pots. "It's so neat to make something with your own hands," Brinkworth said. "There's nothing more pleasurable than spending a lazy Sunday afternoon churning butter."... "In centuries past, many women didn't have a lot of fabric for blankets, so they were forced to make quilts out of whatever bits and pieces were lying around. Of course, to mimic these elaborate patterns, modern quilters buy yards of brand-new cloth from fabric stores and cut them up to resemble precious scraps.""

Ghana man attacks churches in Rome, motive unclear - "the man kept screaming that this was “a wrong way of using the statues with the children.”... His religion, or the motive behind his attacks remain unknown."

BBC sacked me for being a white man: Radio 4 comic was told you have to go. We need more women and minorities - "Bafta award-winning comedian Jon Holmes was axed from The Now Show – the hit Radio 4 programme he has appeared on for 18 years – when bosses told him 'we're recasting it with more women and diversity'. Last night, leading figures from the world of entertainment and across the political spectrum reacted with fury to the BBC instigating a policy in which it was now choosing performers based on their gender or skin colour, instead of their talent. Mr Holmes revealed that since his sacking he has heard from other stars who have been rejected by broadcasting bosses because of 'positive discrimination'. He told how one woman presenter was given a job only later to be told 'we can't have you, because you are too white and middle class'. Another performer was considered 'perfect' for a role but could not be employed because bosses had been told to cast someone Asian, he said... even bosses responsible for setting up the Corporation's diversity policies had got in touch with him to say that political correctness 'had all got out of hand'... Reacting to the toxic revelations, racial equality campaigner Trevor Phillips said the removal of Mr Holmes to make way for minority performers showed the BBC 'don't believe black or Asian people are as good as white people'... Holmes's axing follows the BBC's April announcement of new diversity targets to ensure that women will make up half of its staff by 2020, including on screen, on air and in leadership roles. The Corporation is also aiming to increase the proportion of its workforce from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to 15 per cent by the same date, while lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people should by then make up eight per cent of the staff... In 2014, then director of BBC Television Danny Cohen said the Corporation could no longer accept all-male panels on comedy series. Since the edict, there has almost invariably been a woman comedian on shows such as Have I Got News For You, QI and Mock The Week."

The return of Mao: a new threat to China’s politics — FT.com - "There is no doubt that Mao would be horrified by modern China, with its stark inequality, rampant commercialism and the lack of rights for workers and peasant farmers. China was one of the poorest but most equal societies in the world in the 1980s but today it is one of the most unequal, with the richest 1 per cent of households owning a third of the country’s wealth. In terms of income, communist China is now far less equal than the capitalist US and the only large countries with worse income inequality are South Africa and Brazil... For now, the “revolution” is being fought mainly in the realm of ideology and there is no evidence that any neo-Maoist groups have access to weapons or are capable of launching the kind of guerrilla war that brought Mao and the Communist party to power. But China’s leaders are well aware of how a potent political movement can start from very humble roots. “Guess how the Chinese Communist party started?” says Blanchette. “It was 12 dudes in a room in Shanghai talking about taking over the country”... The neo-Maoist message does appear to be striking a chord among vast numbers of Chinese in a way that calls for western-style democratic reforms have not. In polls run on four of China’s largest web portals last year, more than 80 per cent of the 1.1 million respondents said they supported the Cultural Revolution or were nostalgic for it... Most ordinary people kept a shrine to Mao in their homes and many structured their day around it: praying for instructions in the morning, thanking the Chairman for his kindness at noon and reporting back to him at night. These rituals were often accompanied by a bizarre, officially sanctioned “loyalty dance”."

Animal Rights Activists Free Captive Penguin Into The Ocean, Probably Resulting In Its Death - "As if the fact that he is probably going to die of starvation isn’t bad enough, Bayworld has also said that he was currently looking after two new chicks with his mate, Francis. Since Buddy’s kidnap last week, one of these chicks has already died... To add to the woes, the African penguin has recently been classed as “endangered”, as their numbers in Southern Africa have continued to decline. As one-half of a successfully breeding pair, Buddy was already doing all he could to further the species, something the animal rights activists have now potentially ruined."

States require more training time to become a barber than a police officer
Regulatory capture!
Also, this suggests that racism is not the only reason why (black) people are shot by police, especially since they "don't know" why they shoot people

Graffiti on busy road says "kill white people" - "One wall was hit along Gornto Lake Road in Brandon, with the phrase "kill white people" spray painted. Other tags read "black lives matter" and "BLM"... Less than a 10 minute drive away, a trailer was hit with similar messages. The Trump sign in their front yard was painted over."

Why S’pore needs to slow down to go fast - "Not only does working longer hours result in less leisure time, but Singapore’s prosperity has also compelled people to maximise the utility of their leisure time, resulting in a “harried leisure class”. Maintaining this frantic pace of life not only exerts a toll on Singaporeans’ physical and mental well-being, but also has broader social and economic ramifications"

'Th' sound to vanish from English language by 2066 because of multiculturalism, say linguists - "By 2066, linguists are predicting that the "th" sound will vanish completely in the capital because there are so many foreigners who struggle to pronounce interdental consonants - the term for a sound created by pushing the tongue against the upper teeth."

Thai AirAsia flight delayed in Chiang Mai after sex toy mistaken for bomb

Czech national jailed 22 months for cheating casinos while playing slot machines - "Czech national Radoslav Skubnik, 40, admitted to three charges under the Casino Control Act of cheating at play when he obtained an advantage for himself while playing the slot machines at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) and Marina Bay Sands casinos last month. The cases against his two alleged accomplices, Russians Vladislav Logachev, 40, and Andrei Egorov, 33, are pending. Deputy Public Prosecutor Jordon Li said that sometime in 2012, Skubnik joined a Russian syndicate operating in casinos in the United States, Europe and Macau targeting slot machines from certain manufacturers. Syndicate members would form into teams consisting of Master (team leader) and Players. After using the devices to record the play patterns of the slot machines, the Master will upload the information to an unknown server for analysis and decoding. The decoded data is then sent back to the Master, who will in turn distribute it to the Players."
Only the house is allowed to have an advantage

Man pretends to be the Qianlong Emperor, scams wealthy lady out of 40 million RMB

Internal 'clock' makes some people age faster and die younger – regardless of lifestyle

Why does Britain have such bizarre place names? - "just like that, in an hour and a quarter, you will have covered the great sweep of British history: from the Celts through the Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians, and Normans to modern times – all as displayed in Britain’s place names"

How decades of divorce helped erode religion - "People whose parents divorced when they were children are significantly more likely to grow up not to be religious as adults"

Video: Anita Sarkeesian slapped by New York Police officer - "Anita argued with the police officer for a while, with him stating that he cannot throw out the protesters, because they have a right to free speech….. Or something (This part of the video isn’t very audible). Not liking his answer, she begun screaming at the officer, throwing her hands at him recklessly and violently. The police officer tried to escape her arms, but she kept pushing forward."

Why Do Female Prison Guards Keep Having Sex with Inmates? - ""I believe that a lot of times the females that engage in this type of ethical suicide have major issues going on with themselves before they are even hired," Tamara, a former corrections officer who has moved into prison administration at a Midwestern facility, tells VICE. "A lot of them are single mothers who are looking to fill a void in their lives, whether it be not having a spouse, or a father figure on the outside." And convicts like Mack know how to play right into that."
How come when female prison guards have sex with inmates they are the victims? If a new, poorly trained male teacher going through problems in life is seduced by his female student is he a victim?

Observations - 6th October 2016

"I notice a fair bit of op eds from female writers are generally about how they feel about things as opposed to really discussing the issue or giving new insight
Almost makes second wave feminist writers an easier read- at least they tend to get straight to to point"

"need to be aware of personal value proposition
Many girls are completely unaware of that
Seen dumpy battleaxes have a 30 point list of what they want in a guy
Wtf"

"There is some speculation in the manosphere that women pick up the feminist kool-aid as a form of shit-testing, to drive away low status males and give them access to the higher tier dudes"

"stronk independent women ain't so stronk when the water isn't running, there is no electricity, the sewage is piling up and there are no security and emergency services.
Quickest feminist litmus test
"I don't need no man."
"Here's a rifle, ISIS is coming. All the best.""

"Porn security is probably why most guys have better understanding of computers than gals"
"And downloading it too"


"People always bitch about meritocracy until they get to live in a place that does not use it"
"ok lor we give you the feudal system instead"

Amused that some people disapprove of telling young children "shame shame" when they run around naked (something about shame culture and self-esteem). Presumably the only thing we can shame kids for is not being feminist.

"Really all the Soviets needed to do was convince Americans that criticizing communism was "hate speech" and they could have won the Cold War"

If abortion restrictions are repugnant because of the regulation of bodily integrity, why restrict suicide and female genital cutting?

"women who want to be stay at home mums also get labelled traitors to the "cause". I've also seen people sling figurative mud at a woman who admitted she liked receiving flowers from her boyfriend.
Some so-called feminists need to be pushed off a cliff."

Doesn't blaming mental illness for terrorism etc contribute to the stigmatisation, demonisation and stereotyping of the mentally ill?

If you are for government by the people but think the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is a dictatorship, you need to check up "democracy" in the dictionary.

"ISIS identifies as Islamic.
"No they're not Islamic," say the left.
Boy identifies as girl.
"Absolutely," say the left."

Perhaps Brexit indicates neoliberalism is woefully incomplete, and that humans are motivated by more than money. Leftists would normally cheer that.

Does surrogacy contribute to the objectification of women and the commodification of childbearing?

If a few women wanting sex more than a few (or even most) men means that men don't want sex more than women, then a few women being paid more than most men means that there's no gender pay gap.


Why do Singaporeans like Magnum so much and treat it as premium ice cream? Low standards?

"You can forecast changes to the law by looking at the so called crisises that get thrown up by ST"

"We are losing this resilience to stand up for ourselves
Case in point
Sexual orientation games
Frigging hell.. Tell the OGL go eat shit la
Need to cry to university admin"

If Singapore legislates that the next president must be a minority but can't find a qualified and willing candidate, what happens? Constitutional Crisis?

Perhaps Singaporeans' flexible approach to time is their sole remaining vestige of tropical culture

Maybe the PAP IB was set up to sow fear and discord online as everyone would be suspect and accusations would flow

Suspecting that before 1991 race riots were less talked about by the Singaporean government since they had another bogeyman - Communism

To many Singaporeans, freedom of speech seems to mean the lack of mind control - since they always talk about how freedom of speech doesn't mean there are no consequences (by which they mean being prosecuted by the legal system). So by freedom of speech they mean the ability to physically say something - rather than the ability to do so without being punished.

Perhaps it is Uniquely Singapore to be so parochial as to view things such as multilingual code switching and racial-religious harmony as Uniquely Singapore.

Amused by Singapore's culture of deference to political authority - so many people call Ministers Sir on Facebook. I thought they were servants, not masters.

"What I find weird is how people in Singapore seem to celebrate the death penalty whenever an article about drugs is posted"
"Alcohol, casinos and infidelity destroy lives and families too!"