Meme - "Bro please just come with me this weekend. It's called a speakeasy bro where they pretend alcohol is still illegal. You have to remember a code word to get in and everyone wears suspenders and fedoras bro. Drinks are $22 each and you drink them out of wooden bowls that give you splinters. It will be great bro
Meme - "Future Facebook Bot showing me the meme I made that now has me scheduled for execution."
Posting Fitness Routine to Facebook Sign of Psychological Problems - "People who are always keen on documenting their gym activities (or every time you simply go for a good, old-fashioned run) tend to be narcissists. According to the researchers, the primary goal is to boast about how much time you invest in your looks. Apparently, these status updates also earn more Facebook likes than other kinds of posts."
The Psychology of Foodstagramming - "Food photos are huge on social media because they’re both easy-to-produce and relevant to everyone. For one, they’re a quick way to show others what we’re up to. Data from digital marketing agency 360i shows that 25% of food photos are motivated by the need to document our day for the public. Posting aesthetic snapshots of gourmet dishes is also a part of our visual self-presentation: polished photos show us in a positive light to others. Approval and validation seeking are other strong motives: 22% of food photos show self-cooked meals, of which their creators are particularly proud. Taking a photo of your food is a form of ritualistic behavior, too. In a way it’s similar to praying before meals. A series of experiments published in Psychological Science showed that people who perform brief rituals before eating reported that they enjoyed the food more compared to those who simply sat down and consumed it right away. A longer delay between the ritual and the meal works even better, as it increases pleasure anticipation. Photographed food can taste yummy even if we wouldn’t normally enjoy it... Seeing other people’s photos of ‘healthy’ food can trick us into believing that it’s delicious... taking a photo during a positive experience (bus tour around a city, a meal) can make us feel happier - so long as it doesn’t interfere with the experience itself. It quickly rounds into a vicious circle, though. Devoted foodstagrammers may get so accustomed to photographing their supper that abstaining from the ritual can make them feel like an important ingredient is missing, Frequent photo-taking can signal underlying eating disorders or unhealthy habits."
The language the French forbade - "Occitan was once the lingua franca of the south of France, and is best known as the language in which the troubadours sang. But in 1539, King François I signed into law an edict, the Ordonnance de Villers-Cotterêts, which made Francien, the northern French dialect of Paris and the Île-de-France, the entire county’s official language."
The Navy Invented a Device to Prevent People From Talking - "The U.S. Navy has invented a new device to prevent people from speaking, one that people with siblings will recognize instantly. The handheld acoustic hailing and disruption device records a person’s speech and spits it back out again, disrupting their concentration and discouraging them from speaking further... The system can get very sneaky, as the filing explains: “By utilizing directional microphones and speakers, only a target speaker’s voice will be picked up by the system, and only a target speaker will hear the transmitted audio.” A person targeted by AHAD might be stunned into silence by the technology and baffled that no one in their vicinity can hear what they’re hearing. Those around them might be equally baffled that the person has stopped speaking, seemingly without reason. In other words, it can make you think you’re crazy, and make people around you think you’re crazy. The disruption technique works best if the machine repeats speech a syllable behind the speaker cadence. Oddly enough it doesn’t work at all for some people, perhaps those with Mick Jagger-levels of self confidence, and actually makes some people even better speakers. The effect is not consistent enough to make the technology worth pursuing beyond the laboratory... AHAD falls under the category of nonlethal weapons systems, weapons designed to achieve a desired effect without causing permanent damage. The U.S. Navy has deployed other nonlethal sonic weapons, including the Long Range Acoustic Device, which can transmit focused sonic waves at very high decibel levels, causing pain. The pain causes people to flee an area, and can have lingering physical effects, including migraines and ringing in the ears, for up to a week."
Why the Navy's TOPGUN School Fines People for 'Top Gun' Quotes - "While assuming that the reason for the rule against "Top Gun" quotes is that TOPGUN instructors are tired of hearing "you can be my wingman any time" or "your ego is writing checks your body can't cash" is reasonable, there is actually more to it than that... Looking back on the action film as someone who had the opportunity to serve as a Navy fighter pilot, he said, "The 'Top Gun' movie had such an impact on most of our lives." He revealed that as a junior officer, it was common for pilots to make jokes and throw out lines from the movie. "It's ingrained in our culture to a certain extent," he said. "But," Snodgrass explained to Insider, "when you get to TOPGUN, because it is such a professional organization and you want to emphasize that you are at the top of your game, that it's about professionalism, about good leadership, you don't turn TOPGUN into a joke by referencing the movie."... the Navy pilots selected to attend the institution take it seriously. "So, it is a part of our bylaws that if someone overtly references the movie — it could be a direct quote, it could be something that is really close to a direct quote — that's an automatic $5 fine. And it's enforced. And you are expected to pay right then. You pull out your wallet and pay the $5"... Old habits die hard though. "I think at some point we were all fined because it's so ingrained in our aviation culture," he told Insider. Snodgrass declined to reveal his favorite "Top Gun" film quote but did say he loved the movie and is looking forward to the sequel. Although he never quotes it, Snodgrass does reference the "Top Gun" movie in his new book, calling attention to the scene where Maverick abandons his wingman and flight lead, Hollywood, in a dogfighting training situation to chase an "enemy" fighter. By acting impulsively and looking out only for himself, Maverick gets his wingman "killed" and falls right into the trap of the "enemy" aircraft. "There's a reason why the actual TOPGUN instructors consulting on the movie insisted on this scene being included: it accurately reflected real combat""
Germany's upside down railway: The Wuppertal Schwebebahn - "Suspension railways today seem like an anachronism -- a 19th-century vision of what the future of transport would look like. By the year 2022, surely we would all be commuting to work on upside down railways! Unlike boring ordinary train lines that stay determinedly fixed to terra firma, suspension railways dangle beneath a track suspended from pylons. Their carriages swoosh over roads, rivers and other obstructions, while passengers get to enjoy the view. The idea, ironically, never really got off the ground despite a few successful if short-lived ventures like the Braniff Jetrail Fastpark System that whisked passengers from parking lot to terminal at Dallas Love Field for four years before the airport closed in 1974. Today, the only suspension railways in operation are to be found in Japan and Germany. And it's in Germany that the original, and still very much the best, can still be found still going strong in all its steampunk glory -- the Wuppertal Schwebebahn."
Meme - *Rambo shooting laugh reacts*
Boy is killed and and cop is injured in shooting at DC Juneteenth Music Festival - "A 15-year-old boy was killed and three people including a cop were wounded after shots rang out at a social justice-inspired musical festival in Washington DC. A total of four people -the dead boy, two adult partygoers and a cop - were shot Sunday evening near the intersection of 14th and U Street NW, where the Moechella music festival, a Juneteenth celebration, was underway... Police said the chaos erupted shortly after a fight broke out between Moechella attendees."
Leftist Patton Oswalt's Marvel Series 'MODOK' Canceled After One Season - "The passion project failed to thrive, even with Marvel name recognition and Oswalt’s insider cred in the comic book industry (he has written for top brands such as DC Comics since the early 2000s). And even more, the comedian’s consistent left-wing virtue signaling failed to translate into robust viewership."
Master Splinter intentionally gave the turtles weapons opposite to their individual personalities. : TMNT - "Raphael is the most hot-headed and violent of the turtles. He wields sais, a traditionally defensive weapon used in peace-keeping. This is to teach him patience and discipline. Michelangelo is the most scatter-brained and playful of the turtles. He wields nunchaku, a weapon infamous for it's complexity and ease of injuring the user. This is to teach him focus and not to take combat lightly. Donatello is the most intelligent and tech-savvy of the turtles. He wields a bo, a simple wooden staff. This is to teach him creativity and making do with what he has. Leonardo is the ethical and heroic of the turtles. He wields katanas, the only bladed weapon of the four and the most lethal by default. This is to teach him that ultimately, despite his ideals, he may be forced to take lives to protect people and must never fight battles needlessly."
Comment: "I see it the complete opposite way. Raph is hot-head and violent, he wield sais, which is really close range and requires him to get really close to his enemies. He often use them as claws. Michelangelo is the most scatter-brained and playful of the turtles. He wields nunchaku, weapon that is wild and hard to control, just like him. Donatello is the most intelligent, he wields a bo or staff. An object often associated with scholars. Leonardo is the ethical and heroic of the turtles. He wields katanas, the weapon associated with Samurai and nobility, who live by a code of honor."
Facebook - "It was my pleasure to support the delegation led by President Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry as they submitted their petition calling for action by the UK Government over the ongoing human rights violations in Kashmir."
I thought neo-imperialism was bad
Meme - Van: "SimplyAdultToys.com.au
Discreet Delivery"
Meme - Axe: "Spotted at Five Guys *Loss*"
Don't call me auntie, Taiwan cafe's owner warns customers with banner - "Auntie, makcik, ah yi — in Singapore this is what we usually call the vendors when ordering food from their shop. One lady boss in Taiwan, however, prohibits her customers from doing so, and has even put up a banner at the entrance of her cafe to let patrons know that "humans above 18" are barred from calling her auntie... His request was ignored, and Taiwan News reported that another diner next to him pointed to a banner at the entrance of the cafe that said: "In order to maintain the quality of food orders, humans who are aged 18 and over, please do not call the proprietress auntie." Chen then made a second attempt to request for his food, this time referring to the owner as "beautiful lady boss." He wrote that the owner looked at him and said, "That sign was made for you." Advertisement Chen ended the post by saying that he hopes to not "find anything weird in his breakfast."... Unfortunately, such seemingly disagreeable F&B owners can be found everywhere. In Singapore, a patron at Grain Alley in Orchard Central allegedly had her one-star review of the cafe on Google sent to her employer. Another patron of the same cafe was allegedly insulted and told to "grow a spine" after leaving a negative review. Earlier this month, a Malaysian woman took to Facebook to share her experience with a rude owner, claiming she was criticised for arriving late. The owner had allegedly insinuated that woman was poor for ordering an omelette dish."
Malawi police arrest Chinese national accused of paying kids to say ‘I am a Black monster’ for videos - "A Chinese national accused of exploiting children in Malawi by making them appear in racist videos for half a dollar a day is now under police custody. Lu Ke, who went missing after a BBC Africa Eye documentary exposed his activities, was arrested in the neighboring country of Zambia, Malawian authorities confirmed. Lu Ke sparked outrage in Malawi after the documentary revealed that he had paid local children to perform in his videos, which he sold for up to $70 on Chinese social media. He reportedly made 380 videos a day, earning approximately 77 million kwacha (approximately $75,300). In one of his alleged videos, children in matching shirts are seen chanting phrases such as “I am a Black monster” and “My IQ is low” in Chinese. One child alleged that Lu Ke, whom they referred to as Susu, would beat them if they did not obey his orders. Lu Ke admitted that he made the video in question before immediately backpedaling. He argued that he was making videos to spread Chinese culture to the local community."
Man in Brazil dies after jumping into piranha-infested lake to escape swarm of bees
'Mind your hair': Passengers say riding the Bangkok skytrain is a slap in the face - "The skytrain authority's advice to passengers to beware their long hair has drawn support and sparked a litany of other complaints about the perils of ridership during rush hour. The Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS) posted a Facebook message on Monday (June 20) asking riders with long hair to make sure their follicles don't blow into the faces or eyes of nearby passengers.
(in)correct shinee on Twitter - "Taemin: jonghyun once yelled, "last one to jump into the pool is gay!" and then jumped into the pool
Taemin: however, i figured out that if i did not jump in then technically he would be the last one to jump into the pool, and he is still gay to this day"
Here's How Houston Airport Brilliantly Reduced Complaints About Baggage Wait Times To Zero - "Executives at a Houston airport were facing a customer experience issue. Passengers were having an unusual number of complaints about the long waits at baggage claim. In an effort to address the issue, the executives increased the number of baggage handlers working that shift so further assistance was given to the airport’s personnel. And, apparently, the plan worked: the average wait fell to an astonishing 8 minutes, way below the industry benchmarks. But there was a problem: the complaints persisted!... it took passengers just a minute to walk from their arrival gates to baggage claim and 7 more minutes to get their bags. So they decided on a new approach. Instead of reducing wait times, they moved the arrival gates farther away from the main terminal and routed bags to the outermost carousel. That meant that passengers now had to walk six times longer in order to get their bags and, if they wanted to make a complain, they had to walk 12 times longer to get back to the complain desk. The result? Complaints dropped to near zero."
Guppy on Twitter - "Each large muscle of a bodybuilder represents a language he didn't learn, a poem he didn't read, a fun fact he never memorised. These men sit in the changing closets, on the wood-bench, counting and comparing muscles for hours, as if it were something to be proud of."
Point out that each example of pointless grievance mongering and virtue signalling is the same and...
Meme - "I WILL SEND YOU THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS"
"THANK YOU"
"Fuck You Fuck You Fuck You Fuck You LORD SATAN PLEASE FUCK THIS MAN AMEN. Fuck you Fuck You"
These Keyboarding Icelandic Horses Can Respond to Your Work Emails - "The exciting new program is called OutHorse Your Email, and it gives visitors the opportunity to disconnect, relax, and soak in all of the country’s majestic beauty while one of several highly trained and talented Icelandic horses responds to any pressing work correspondence."
Do the Rich Flee from High State Taxes? Evidence from Federal Estate Tax Returns - "This paper examines how changes in state tax policy affect the number of federal estate tax returns filed in each state, utilizing data on federal estate tax return filings by state and wealth class for 18 years between 1965 and 1998. Controlling for state- and wealth-class specific fixed effects, we find that high state inheritance and estate taxes and sales taxes have statistically significant, but modest, negative impacts on the number of federal estate tax returns filed in a state. High personal income tax and property tax burdens are also found to have negative effects, but these results are somewhat sensitive to alternative specifications. This evidence is consistent with the notion that wealthy elderly people change their real (or reported) state of residence to avoid high state taxes, although it could partly reflect other modes of tax avoidance as well. We discuss the implications for the debate over whether individual states should decouple' their estate taxes from federal law, which would retain the state tax even as the federal credit for such taxes is eliminated. Our results suggest that migration and other observationally equivalent avoidance activities in response to such a tax would cause revenue losses and deadweight losses, but that these would not be large relative to the revenue raised by the tax."
International mobility is going to be even less, since that is harder and involves more of a change
Weird. I thought the rich are willing and able to flee taxes, so raising taxes on the rich is pointless.
Dying to Save Taxes: Evidence from Estate-Tax Returns on the Death Elasticity - "This paper examines data from U.S. federal tax returns to shed light on whether the timing of death is responsive to its tax consequences. We investigate the temporal pattern of deaths around the time of changes in the estate-tax system periods when living longer, or dying sooner, could significantly affect estate-tax liability. We find some evidence that there is a small death elasticity, although we cannot rule out that what we have uncovered is ex post doctoring of the reported date of death."
Alleged tax competition: The mysterious death of bequest taxes in Switzerland - "Interjurisdictional competition over mobile tax bases is an easily understood mechanism, but actual tax-base elasticities are difficult to estimate. Political pressure for reducing tax rates could therefore be based on erroneous estimates of the mobility of tax bases. We show that tax competition provided the most prominent argument in the policy debates leading to a succession of reforms of bequest taxation by Swiss cantons. Yet, canton-level panel data spanning multiple bequest tax reforms over a 36-year period suggest the relevant tax base, high-income retirees, to be relatively inelastic with respect to tax rates. The alleged pressures of tax competition did not seem in reality to exist."
Relocation of the Rich: Migration in Response to Top Tax Rate Changes from Spanish Reforms - "A Spanish reform granted regions the authority to set income tax rates, resulting in substantial tax differentials. Using administrative data, we find that conditional on moving, taxes have a significant effect on location choice. A 1% increase in the net-of-tax rate for a region relative to others increases the probability of moving to that region by 1.7 percentage points. We estimate an elasticity of the number of top taxpayers with respect to net-of-tax rates of 0.85. The mechanical increase in tax revenue due to higher tax rates is larger than the loss in tax revenue from the net outflow of migration."
The Effect of State Taxes on the Geographical Location of Top Earners: Evidence from Star Scientists - "We quantify how sensitive is migration by star scientists to changes in personal and business tax differentials across states. We uncover large, stable, and precisely estimated effects of personal and corporate taxes on star scientists' migration patterns. The long-run elasticity of mobility relative to taxes is 1.8 for personal income taxes, 1.9 for state corporate income tax, and —1.7 for the investment tax credit. While there are many other factors that drive when innovative individuals and innovative companies decide to locate, there are enough firms and workers on the margin that state taxes matter."
Facebook - "Two babies in Virginia are going viral because they're cousins . . . and also twin BROTHERS. They've got the same DNA, because both sets of parents are IDENTICAL TWINS. Their moms are identical and married two identical twin brothers. So in addition to being cousins, the two babies are also "genetic brothers" If they took a DNA test, it would say they're siblings, even though they're not. Their parents met in 2017 at a festival for twins, and got married a year later. Now they all live together in the same house."
How to spot the Italian restaurants to avoid - "There are some obvious red flags for restaurants anywhere – people trying to coax you inside, dishes of congealed food on display in glass cases – but here are a few more Italy-specific tips for spotting the eateries best avoided."
Basically go to a restaurant where you don't understand the menu and you probably won't understand what you are eating
Public Morality in Sex Spaces > Vanessa Ho | s/pores journal - "Rowell Road is a pretty spectacular red light district. Not only because of the women who line the stairwells behind grill-doors, or the groups of gawking men who have no respect for road safety, but also because of the level of policing that this area faces. In addition to security officers who walk around in groups on the lookout for parking offenders and litterbugs, Rowell Road is constantly policed by patrol cars, plain-clothed policemen, anti-vice police, and civilian informants. Patrol cars often drive through Rowell Road multiple times a day, sometimes twice an hour. The unspoken rule is that whenever a patrol car drives by, the unlicensed brothels are to close their doors as a sign of respect to the officers. The presence of plain clothed policemen is signalled also by the closed doors of the brothels, and the relative silence in the area. Civilian informants are generally Indian nationals or Bangladeshis men in the area who are paid $50 to tip off the police when they see brothel doors opening."
Urine facials: What are they and do they work? - "A bizarre beauty trend has seen people wiping urine on their faces in a bid for clearer skin. Also known as urotherapy or “pee facials”, the at-home treatment involves a person collecting their urine, dabbing it on a cloth or piece of cotton wool, and wiping it across their face. It is then left to dry and rinsed away with water... ”Urine is primarily water and there's very little urea in it. It contains less than 5% and actual skincare products with urea contain 10 per cent or more,” she said. Instead, other natural products like tea, apple-cider vinegar and tea-tree oil are better alternatives, Dermatologist Dr Neal Schultz told Refinery 29"
Meme - "My mom: Study so you don't have to wash dishes for a living
Me: *scientist*"
Meme - "15 Most Beautiful First Ladies of Asian Countries *Ho Ching*"
Meme - *Pikachu on metro with arm coming out of mouth*
Meme - "Time turn up the volume on this porn... So my neighbors think I'm getting some action..."
"OH GOD! What the Fuck is that noise?!"
"Ughh it's just my neighbor, Hank. He's always banging some Japanese woman and an Octopus."
By 29, I had everything I’d ever wanted in my work life – and it broke me - "At the age of 29, I gained a senior position on a six-figure salary after a series of promotions at an industry-renowned company. On paper, I had achieved everything. But it nearly broke me. “You have to work extremely hard to be successful and it won’t always be easy,” I had been told from a very young age. I simply followed instructions. I had achieved two first-class degrees at university, and I wanted to make sure I had the same boxes ticked in my career. But quickly, the number of boxes I had to tick became too much. I found myself running several departments, regularly presenting to the company’s chief executive and managing a large and difficult team. Achieving my life goal made me physically and mentally ill. I slowly had to give up everything else for work, and my life became empty and colourless. I could barely discuss anything other than work and after previously being known for my active lifestyle, I could not even “find the time” to go outside for a walk. My smartwatch chided me for not hitting my daily goal – let alone 1,000 steps. I put on weight; I hated myself for being so dull; I went out for drinks with colleagues and we all complained. The cycle of self-loathing continued. At one point, I started jolting awake at 2am, thinking about the emails I hadn’t got round to sending. I would get up and start scheduling them to send later that morning. It was the only way to get ahead of the emails and the tasks that continually mounted up. I often thought of it as a treadmill on the highest setting as I sprinted, gasping for air to keep up. It was mortifying when the email scheduling function didn’t work. I didn’t want people to think I had “lost it” by noticing the real send time. That would have been like losing my core identity. I had it all under control, didn’t I?... With no real support to solve the issues, I focused on the reward of money in the hope it would make things better. But I quickly learned that there is no point in having money you are too miserable to spend. At my lowest point, or perhaps my strongest, I told my boss I couldn’t do it anymore and handed in my notice"
The New York Times - Posts | Facebook - "A grocery store worker on Staten Island was arrested Sunday after hitting Rudy Giuliani while the former mayor campaigned for his son, a GOP candidate for governor. Giuliani said in an interview that the man said, "You're going to kill women.""
Naturally, in the comments lots of people were justifying violence. One even said that violence against people was wrong - but he wasn't a person so it was okay. Dehumanisation is good when it comes to people liberals hate
Harmeet K. Dhillon on Twitter - "BREAKING: Leaked Call With Inmate Reveals SC Democrat State Rep & Senate Candidate @kmforsenate Calling For "#SecretSleepers" to Infiltrate @SCGOP; Advocates For ILLEGALLY Funding Campaign with "Dope Money" "We can flip some sh*t from the inside out.""
Banker-Turned-Hawker Sells Delish $8 Marché-Style Rosti After Losing Life Savings - "He had invested his life savings of around $40,000 in cryptocurrency, and lost it all... His family members and friends had also invested in the Chinese company’s currencies, but managed to withdraw their money in time and avoid losses. But some of Algin’s friends suffered a loss"
Millennial Rosti Hawkers Close Stall After Months Of “Less Than $1,000” Take-Home Pay - "mod nasi lemak stall Ah Lemak, which shut down after only five months due to poor business and diners remarking that its $6.50 chicken thigh nasi lemak was “so expensive”. Another young hawker-run stall that recently closed is Burgrill."
Meme - "Rong, 24
17 kilometers away
Active 3 minutes ago
About Rong
I can cook, clean, caress, coax and cum. What other Cs do you need?"
Facebook - "colleague J (who is European): *shares a proud son story about how his retired dad asked for some guidance about programming and then after a while created a whole website by himself*
colleague S (paraphrased): cool! i am also teaching my mum how to program but she hasn't gotten to the stage where she can create a whole website yet various other colleagues: *are appropriately impressed and encouraging*
me: i am going to show this to my parents and ask them why they can't be more like your parents. revenge is going to be sweet. #asiansonning #tigerson #asianhumour #adrianhumour"
