Monday, March 27, 2023

Links - 27th March 2023 (1)

Singapore: Interpol seeks woman who ran elaborate exam cheating scam - "Interpol has issued an alert for a woman behind an elaborate exam-cheating scam in Singapore which involved phones and headphones taped to students.  Poh Yuan Nie, 57, fronted the racket together with three accomplices, who have all been jailed.  Poh, the former principal of a local tuition centre, had been due to begin a four-year sentence last September, but failed to surrender herself.  She is thought to have fled Singapore.  Police in the city-state issued an arrest warrant for Poh, also known as Pony, last November. They applied for the Interpol "red notice" the following month and have appealed for information on her whereabouts... Poh's Zeus Education Centre was engaged to provide tuition to six students - aged 17 to 20 - to help them pass their exams and enter local vocational colleges known as polytechnics.  Poh was paid S$8,000 (£4,900; $6,100) per student, as well as S$1,000 in admission fees - but the money was to be fully refunded if they did not pass.  The students - all Chinese nationals - sat for the papers at different venues while wearing skin-coloured in-ear headphones. Mobile phones and Bluetooth devices were taped to their bodies by Poh and her accomplices, and carefully concealed under their clothes. Poh's ex-girlfriend Tan Jia Yan, then aged 30, also sat for the papers as a private candidate. She did so with a camera phone attached to her chest via sticky tape, and hidden beneath her clothes.  Using FaceTime, Tan broadcast a livestream of the papers to Poh, her niece Fiona Poh and an employee Feng Riwen, who were waiting at the tuition centre.  The trio then worked out the answers and fed them to the students via their headphones. "If I heard them clearly, I should keep silent, if not, I should cough," testified one student. The scheme unravelled when an exam supervisor heard unusual transmission sounds coming from one of the students, who came clean when questioned. One of the students involved testified that he had been pressured by the tutors to cheat, and "did not dare" tell them that he did not want to be part of it... A judge had called on the trio to testify in their defence, but they chose to remain silent. The prosecution argued that an adverse inference should be drawn from this, including the ultimate inference of guilt. In 2019, Tan was jailed for three years on the same charges. At her sentencing, District Judge Kenneth Yap said that the sanctity of national exams had to be protected."
Cheating is serious in Singapore. In China this is an everyday occurrence
Weird, Even in Singapore there's supposed to be a right to no self-incrimination

Meme - Nick Beat: "Who takes the time to like Burger King and chik filet on Facebook? Usually, non garbage human being will like bands, and shows, and other things that don't showcase how low their fucking standards are. Ow like one of these super obse ft chicks who can't help it. It fucking defines ya liked two locations of the same restaurant. is that so friends can know that those are the two best chic filet restaurants?"

Meme - "Be prepared. Any moment "Jesus" is coming! Driver will disappear!"

Man rejected by woman who wanted only to be friends sues her for $3m over ‘trauma’ - "A man who wanted a romantic relationship with a woman initially threatened to sue her for emotional trauma after he found out that she saw him only as a friend.  The legal action was kept at bay after she agreed to take part in his counselling, but almost 1½ years later, Mr K. Kawshigan still could not accept that Ms Nora Tan did not want to be in a relationship with him.  After she cut off contact with him, he filed two lawsuits against her – a $3 million High Court claim for allegedly causing “damage to his stellar reputation” and “trauma, depression and impacts” to his life, as well as a $22,000 magistrate’s court claim for allegedly breaching an agreement to improve their relationship.  The latter suit was struck out... While Ms Tan regarded Mr Kawshigan only as a friend, he considered her to be his “closest friend”.  Ms Tan asked for their interactions to be reduced, which displeased Mr Kawshigan, as he felt it constituted taking a step back in their relationship. Nevertheless, she emphasised the need for boundaries and urged him to be “self-reliant”...   He claimed that as a result of the breach, his earning capacity as an “active high-capital trader by night and a busy CEO by day” has been negatively affected, and that he has had to look for “deeper psychological assistance”."

Meme - Voivode: "Christbros.... It's over
An Atheist *building raft*
A Believer *praying*"
ChristeVelMors: "Amazing, God answered the believer's prayers by sending him an atheist to build a boat. The Lord works in mysterious ways"
So Christians need atheists around to do the work

Man who dated a woman trapped in a child's body claps back at critics - "A man who dated a 23-year-old woman trapped in the body of an eight-year-old girl has clapped back at critics who called him a 'creep' and accused him of being attracted to her 'because she looks like a kid' - but he insisted he was into her 'personality' and not her childlike looks.  At just three-feet, 10-inches tall and weighing 50 pounds, Shauna Rae Lesick is the average size of a third-grader.   Her stunted growth is a side effect of brain cancer treatment that she received as an infant, and unfortunately, her disability has made it hard for her to find love."
The anti "pedo" virtue signallers got very upset. Presumably she needs to keep dating 8 year old boys (at least until they grow up). But then they'd be slamming her as the "pedo". So she must stay single forever and never even date, so as not to hurt the anti "pedo" squad's feelings

Meme - James Breakwell, Exploding U..: "I introduced my kids to reruns of "America's Funniest Home Videos" and discovered to my horror that I basically spent the watching YouTube reaction videos on TV."

Meme - "hey"
"Hey. Just so you know I'm not gay or anything"
"this is grindr my guy"
"I guess people who are lactose intolerant can't walk down the fucking dairy aisle? I'm just looking"

Meme - "Mes passions sur mon CV: La méditation, la musique, la lecture, la course à pied
Mes passions dans la vraie vie: l'alcool, un gros burger et beaucoup de frites, dormir, utiliser la portable dans des WCs"

Alec Baldwin faces up to five years in prison over fatal Rust set shooting - "Alec Baldwin faces up to five years in prison after being charged over the fatal shooting on the set of his movie Rust, in what his lawyer on Thursday night called a “terrible miscarriage of justice”... They said the actor, who vowed to fight the charges, “had a duty” to ensure the gun and the bullets were properly checked and that he should never have pointed it at anyone. “You should not point a gun at someone that you’re not willing to shoot,” Mary Carmack-Altwies, Santa Fe First Judicial District Attorney, said... “The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the Rust film set. In New Mexico, there is no room for film sets that don’t take our state’s commitment to gun safety and public safety seriously”... Ms Hutchins’ family settled a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and other producers last year."
On the NPR Facebook, some people claimed the fact that the civil suit was settled meant that he wouldn't be found criminally guilty. What bizarre logic

Brandon Lee was killed by a prop gun, years before the 'Rust' shooting death - "Actor Alec Baldwin is facing criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021. The incident is reminiscent of another on-set tragedy: the accidental shooting of actor Brandon Lee during filming of The Crow nearly three decades earlier."
Weird article making false equivalences. The two situations were so different. Of course the Facebook crowd lapped it up, and claimed the prosecutor was politically motivated. Justice is only biased when the left disagree with it

Alec Baldwin film tragedy: What are the rules for guns on movie sets? - "Perhaps the closest to a list of suggested rules is that published by the Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee. Its advice includes:
    Blanks can kill. Treat all firearms as though they are loaded
    Refrain from pointing a firearm at yourself or anyone else
    Never place your finger on the trigger unless you're ready to shoot
    Anyone involved in using a firearm must be thoroughly briefed at an on-set safety meeting
    Only a qualified person should load a firearm
    Protective shields, eye and hearing protection should be used by anyone in close proximity or the line of fire
    Any actor who is required to stand near the line of fire should be allowed to witness the loading of the firearms...
Incidents like the one on the set of Rust are incredibly rare, but calls have grown for a ban on live firearms on film sets, with a petition gathering more than 23,000 signatures... California Senator Dave Cortese said on Saturday he would push a bill banning live ammunition on movie sets in the state.  He said: "There is an urgent need to address alarming work abuses and safety violations occurring on the set of theatrical productions, including unnecessary high-risk conditions such as the use of live firearms."  But some industry professionals said simply the use of live weapons was not the problem. SL Huang, an armourer, stunt person and writer, said on Twitter that if you follow the standard procedures, accidents just shouldn't happen.  Gary Harper - who has worked as an armourer on films such as The Last Samurai and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - told The Hollywood Reporter that direct-to-camera, close-up shots are frequently requested and can be performed safely... "There's no reason to have guns loaded with blanks or anything on set anymore. Should just be fully outlawed," tweeted Craig Zobel, an actor and director whose credits include Westworld and Mare of Easttown.  However he later conceded that live rounds "do have a role on set", but they made him nervous.  In an interview with Variety, property master Dutch Merrick said fake guns were not as convincing, but safe environments were key.  "I work on the show SEAL Team and we do a ton of gunfire on that. If you told the actors to fake the gunfire with a toy or replica, make it look like it's firing, that's baloney."... In a blog for the American Society of Cinematographers posted in 2019, Dave Brown wrote: "CGI may be used for close-range gunshots that could not be safely achieved otherwise, but yes, even with all the advancements in visual effects and computer-generated imagery, we still fire guns with blanks.  "The reason is simple: We want the scene to look as real as possible. We want the story and characters to be believable."  He added this could only be achieved safely by hiring experienced firearms experts."
Weird. On the NPR Facebook, lots of people claimed that Baldwin had no responsibility, and he couldn't have prevented this

Hilaria Baldwin Asked About Alec Baldwin's Rust Charges - "Hilaria was photographed wearing a shirt that read "Empathy."... Throughout the video, she speaks with a Spanish-ish accent — which is notable given that Hilaria, who was born Hilary in Boston, has been accused of pretending to be Spanish... "It's really awful, what you guys are doing," she continued, before yelling, "Ven aquí!""

Girl asks police to run DNA test on Christmas cookie for evidence of Santa Claus - "The young girl asked the police to run a DNA test on a partially eaten cookie and carrot remains presumably consumed by Santa Claus and some of his nine reindeer on Christmas Eve. The food remains were forwarded to the state's Department of Health-Forensic Sciences Unit for analysis"

Bangladesh smartphone keyboard touches off political controversy - Nikkei Asia - "Bangladesh's telecom regulator has made it mandatory to install a particular Bangla-language keyboard in all Android smartphones sold in the country -- a controversial move given that the company that produces the keyboard is owned by the incumbent telecom minister. The keyboard software in question is called Bijoy, which means "victory." It is made by Ananda Computers, a company formed over three decades ago and owned by Minister of Post and Telecommunications Mustafa Jabbar... The Bangladesh chapter of Transparency International, a global corruption monitor, sees the directive as a blatant use of state power for personal profit and says such a move will disrupt the market and create an uneven playing field for competitors. Bangladesh is no stranger to corruption, according to TI, which ranked it 147th out of 180 countries on its last Corruption Perceptions Index -- the worst in South Asia after Afghanistan... despite its long history, Bijoy is one of the least popular Bangla keyboards for Android phones, which dominate over 90% of the market according to the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Importers Association. Even if it is free, they say that if Bijoy is mandatory, Jabbar's company would still benefit in other ways... Bijoy also had a much lower average user rating than Ridmik"

Vietnam ranks among worst tourist hubs on bathroom wall of shame - Nikkei Asia - "The streets of Ho Chi Minh City offer everything a tourist wants: delectable food, history etched into the architecture, local life as motorbike drivers deliver chickens or play cards. Everything, that is, except toilets. The metropolis, along with Hanoi, is one of the worst holiday cities for toilet access... Only Johannesburg and Cairo fare worse than the Vietnamese hubs on the index, which measures public bathrooms per square kilometer. Officials and hospitality businesses are doing some soul searching after Vietnam became one of Asia's least-visited destinations in 2022. The tropical country may boast mammoth caves, snorkeling and jellyfish noodles, but it attracted just 3.6 million tourists last year after lifting COVID curbs. The issue has less to do with restrooms than with visa restrictions, which make Vietnam harder to reach than Thailand or Indonesia... The top 10 cities on its restroom density index are mostly rich European capitals, led by Paris, while the bottom 10 are mostly in developing Africa or Asia, such as Shanghai and Beijing."

Meme - "The easiest and quickest way to test someone's intelligence is to make a generalized statement about a group. Say something like "asian men are shorter on average' if they say any variation of "not all asian men are short" or "I know a tall asian guy" you are dealing with someone genuinely low IQ. They have proven that they aren't intelligent enough to understand abstract ideas like a statistical average or per capita. Why else would they think bringing up an exception like it was some profound statement? They literally CAN NOT understand abstracts, no attempt at rationalizing or explaining yourself will increase their IQ."

Meme - "Are you actually a mascot?"
"Yeah lol I'm the eagle"
"That's really cool lol. I don't know anyone else who's a mascot"
"Yeah well it's pretty neat. We're not supposed to tell people tho. And a lot of people ask "who is the eagle?" Cause they don't know. But no one asks "how is the eagle". And it gets to you sometimes"
"Aw man. Well, how is the eagle"
"Horny"

Meme - "1974 *Canada*, 2002 *Thailand*
How can we stop middle age white men from taking our teenage zoomer girls?"

Meme - Megs @the_meghaning: "Ever wonder why you don't see shirtless cop calendars like the firefighter calendars? It's because they don't want you to see all the swastikas."
Shirtless police calendars do exist. All the people who hate the police so much can join the libertarians and move to their own place with no police

Meme - "Being a Dolly Parton fan has its issues
I <3 DP"

Meme - "Girls : Boys are so lucky, they have no periods, no mood swings, no insecurity
*Meanwhile Boys in public : Okay, tiny dude is big now."

Meme - Jerry Butcher: "A CHURCH ARCHITECT'S NIGHTMARE"

Meme - "#stayandfuckathome Go home and fuck yourself. Masturbator CHF 159.90. amorana.ch"

Meme - ">the most innocent of beings (child) is betrayed by the one who is supposed to protect him the most (mother)
>the best (and most human-like) image of strength and aggression we have (male silverback gorilla) comes to the rescue of the child. an unlikely event it would seem. the unlikely savior mirroring Christ, who hath no form nor comeliness.
>his act of compassion is repaid with brutal execution. this mirrors the crucifixion of Christ, whose compassion for man leads to his unjust murder
there has to be more to this ritual"
On Harambe

Euromillions youngest ever winner wanted to sue the lottery after becoming overnight millionaire - "A woman who became a millionaire at just 17 has revealed that she wanted to sue the lottery after the win changed her life for the worst.  Jane Park, now 27, explained that she threatened to sue EuroMillions after her 2013 win, arguing that someone under 18 should have never been allowed to win. While she admits that she's still living her best life and doesn't regret any of the money she has spent so far, Jane said the win ultimately made her miserable.  The 26-year-old went explained in a recent episode of Dr Phil that she ultimately 'wouldn't wish [a lottery win] on anyone.'  Jane, who she claims was encouraged to go public with the win, said it led to massive invasions of her privacy.  She revealed: "I had a stalker, there was people hiding inside the bushes outside my house, they were threatening to through acid in my face.  "I was scared to walk out my front door. I don’t think that anyone should ever feel like that."... "Since then, that story went very big and they have raised the age to 18 and I feel like I've made a massive impact on that.""

Meme - "Magnesium Citrate... TaKe SIPS BY MOUTH EVERy 20 MINUTES UNTIL ONSET OF BOWEL MOVEMENTS. STAY INSIDE WITH LOOSE SHORTS"

Meme - ">hey guys it's critical
>today we are taking yet another clip from my live stream of me watching a youtube video that somebody else made and getting a million views for what little I add in words with my boring dry tired voice
>also, for comedic effect, I will stretch the image on the youtube thumbnail for the billionth time
>please laugh"

Laser tag company ordered to pay $38 for 'disappointing' experience - "She reserved an “Ultimate Birthday Experience,” for $248, which she later upgraded. This included increasing the size of two pizzas, adding large pizza for $32 and buying three additional laser tag passes for adults, in total shelling out $465.50 for the party. The claim states three adults who participated in the laser tag games were charged $32.50 instead of the adult fee of $20.  “The fact that Planet Lazer did not provide extra pizza or cake for the adults supports the conclusion that Planet Lazer did not consider them ‘participants’ under the contract. I find that if the 3 adults were participants, the contract would have required Planet Lazer to order extra pizza for them (or provide a discount on the extra pizza Ms. Pivnick had already ordered),” the decision says."

Meme - *Man saluting McDonald's flag at half-mast*

Man inserts eel into rectum from anus in hopes to ‘relieve constipation’ - "A man in Xinghua, East China's Jiangsu Province, inserted a 20-centimeter-long eel into his rectum from his anus on July 20 in hopes of relieving constipation, but instead almost lost his life after the eel entered his abdomen. What motivated the man to do so is a "folk remedy" that says an eel can help with bowel movement. But instead of curing the constipation, the eel went from the man's rectum to the colon and bit through it, entering the abdomen... A 50-year-old man in South China's Guangdong Province did the same thing with a 40 cm-long eel in June 2020.On June 2 2020, an African carp was found in the stomach of a young man in Guangdong, who claimed that the fish "slid into" his rectum when he accidentally sat on it"

Meme - "I learned a lot from my mistakes so I decided to make more mistakes to learn more"

Meme - @RyanStegman: "Story time: my mom fell and hit her head (she's fine). I was worried about her. The next morning I texted my dad asking for an update and this is what happened."
"How is mothers head"
"I've had better."

Killer octopus: venomous sea creature ends up on restaurant diner’s plate in China and moments from being eaten when alarm sounded | South China Morning Post - "Blue-ringed octopuses are one of the world’s most deadly marine animals and contain the powerful neurotoxin tetrodotoxin Thanks to a timely reply from a science blogger, the man who spotted the strange-looking animal narrowly avoided being fatally poisoned"

Meme - "Everybody has a dream *boy with no legs and chalk*
*boy with big penis in chalk*"

Meme - "Gun show. Jan 28-29 I Gwinnett Fairgrounds"
"Failed, failed, failed. And then... PERSISTENCE. Abraham Lincoln"

Meme - "I asked for my coffee dark. But, *monster crawling out of coffee cup*"

Meme - "Dude needs to make up his mind about being seen or not. *camouflage jacket and fluorescent vest*"

Drunk duo left with horror injuries after riding blocked flume tubes at 2am now make legal threats - "A pair of drunken 'idiots' who broke their legs after sneaking into a waterpark and crashing into the barrier of a closed flume tube have said they may sue the park's owners.  Mum-of-five Claire Vickers, 46, and friend Barry Douglas, 44, suffered broken shins and shattered feet after pulling their 2am stunt at the Aldershot Lido in Hampshire last month.  But the duo found themselves in A&E after hurtling down the water slide and slamming into a steel barrier that was blocking the end... Mr Douglas told hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield that the park was too easy to get into and they may take 'legal action' as a result of their injuries."
Boozy gran who broke legs on waterslide once assaulted police officer after drink-driving
Man took his own life after being left in wheelchair from waterpark accident

Man Discovers Reason For Fried Flavour In His Rice - And It May Disgust You - "The rice here at home, when made in the slow cooker, always came out with a delicious fried flavour and we never found out why. Today we opened it for maintenance and discovered several crackling lizards"

'Mosquito trap' idea goes viral on social media; leaves netizens laughing hard - "A netizen posted a ‘mosquito trap' along with a picture of salt, a bottle cap full of tequila, a stick, and a rock. She then quipped that the mosquito would land on the salt, believing it to be sugar. It will then feel thirsty and jump into the cap, thinking it was water. It will then trip on the stick because it was ‘drunk’ and then bang its head on the rock and die."

Meme - "Came across this at my parents house.
Stay classy Nintendo"
"February 28, 1991
Dear David: Thanks for sending in your game idea. It's obvious that you spent a great deal of time and thought on it, and I was really impressed by your creativity. Although we receive many outstanding proposals every day, we're limited to using our own creative resources to develop our products, most of which are designed and made in Japan. Every game we make takes a substantial investment of both time and money. In fact, creating a game as complex as Super Mario Bros. 3 can require years and involve the talents of complete teams of planners, artists and programmers. Because we can't use your game diagrams we are returning them to you. We encourage you to keep developing your creative ideas. Who knows David--perhaps someday you'll be the one designing games! Thanks again for writing. We appreciate your interest in our products. Sincerely, NINTENDO OF AMERICA INC."

Man survives 24 days at sea on diet of ketchup and stock cubes - "Adrift at sea without food or phone signal and with little sailing knowledge, Elvis Francois’s chances of survival were slim to none. But sustained by a diet of tomato ketchup, garlic powder and stock cubes, the 47-year-old miraculously made it home to his loved ones after 24 days lost in the Caribbean Sea. Mr Francois told rescuers he had been working to repair a sailboat near a harbour on the island of St Martin, where he lives, when the weather turned and he was swept away from the coast. He made frantic calls on his mobile phone but then the signal died and he was left adrift with no way to communicate... Mr Francois was not a sailor and did not know how to navigate or use any of the equipment on the boat. The boat was letting in water and he had to keep bailing it out to stop it from sinking"

Abba's Chiquitita: Guatemala school uses Unicef funds - "Despite selling millions of copies over more than four decades, their massive 1979 hit, Chiquitita, doesn't earn the Swedish supergroup a penny.  "We gave the copyright to Unicef," its composer and founding member of Abba, Bjorn Ulvaeus, told the BBC... Written for Unicef's Year of the Child, Chiquitita - which means "Little Girl" in Spanish - was also the first song Abba recorded in Spanish, becoming a huge success across Latin America. From the start, Bjorn Ulvaeus says the band was clear about what they wanted the royalties to be used for.  "I think that the most urgent thing that can be done on this globe is the empowerment of young women and girls. That would change our world," he said. "It's so sad that there are cultures and religions around the globe that just don't give girls equal chances. So, early on we said to Unicef, that's where we want our money to go.""

A Woman Found Her Cord-Blood Donor From a DNA Test - The Atlantic - "As a cancer patient, she had received cord-blood cells from an anonymous donor. The DNA from those cells led her to him"

Melissa Chen on Twitter - "Fun fact: When Xi Jinping took power in 2012, Lee Kuan Yew, former PM of Singapore, said approvingly, “I would put him in the Nelson Mandela class of persons.” I would put that statement in the Paul Krugman class of predictions."

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