"The happiest place on earth"

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Sunday, May 14, 2023

Links - 14th May 2023 (2)

Meme - Mika @QueenzMikaSoCal: "Black ppl made Wakanda.... White ppl made Chicago..... Where yous rather live?"
Ironically, it's the reverse

Meme - "So are you telling me they built the pyramids and every other civilisation, had a 300,000 year advantage, had the homefield advantage on living on the most resource rich continent in the World and then got enslaved by a couple of boats full of cave dwellers?? I'm sorry but that narrative doesn't make sense."

Conversion Circumcision And An Angry Mum The Journey of One Couples Interracial Marriage - "Their relationship hit a major bump in the road when Llewelyn’s mum found out that he was courting a Malay Muslim. “She was furious. There was a lot of disapproval, anger and tension at home,” he said. “She knew that if I got married to Rita, I would have to convert.”  His mother went out of her way to express her unhappiness and attempted to drive a wedge between the couple. Whenever they called each other, she would pick up the other phone in the house and place its receiver at the radio. Rita was unable to hear him clearly so he had to use a public phone...   Llewelyn’s mum also mobilised his family against him... By and large, who we end up with still tends to be greatly influenced by social norms and traditions within our own ethnic and cultural spheres.  Sociologists Riaz Hasan and Geoffrey Benjamin expand on this theory in their journal article Ethnic Outmarriage Rates in Singapore: The Influence of Traditional Socio-Cultural Organization. They argue that marriage for a Chinese man tends to be “circumscribed by family control” due to the patrilineal culture. This is why they tend to marry within their race compared with their female counterparts who are five times more likely to marry outside of it.  Meanwhile, Indians “expend much effort in ensuring that their daughters marry properly” because “in Hindu-Indian belief… it is maternity… that determines a person’s ritual (and hence social) standing.”"
Weird how come we never hear about Muslims who fall in love with non-Muslims who deconvert and get hell from their families (or, hell, whose spouses just don't convert and they still get hell from their families
Of course, this being Singapore, the article conflates interracial and interreligious marriages

Does Having Kids Make You Happy? - The Atlantic - "Some of the most prominent scholars in the field have argued that if you want to be happy, it’s best to be childless. Others have pushed back, pointing out that a lot depends on who you are and where you live. But a bigger question is also at play: What if the rewards of having children are different from, and deeper than, happiness? The early research is decisive: Having kids is bad for quality of life... As the Harvard professor Dan Gilbert puts it, “The only symptom of empty nest syndrome is nonstop smiling.”... One study finds that fathers ages 26 to 62 actually get a happiness boost, while young or single parents suffer the greatest loss. And crucially, there are geographic differences. A 2016 paper looking at the happiness levels of people with and without children in 22 countries found that the extent to which children make you happy is influenced by whether your country has child-care policies such as paid parental leave... Many people would have had happier lives and marriages had they chosen not to have kids—yet they still describe parenthood as the “best thing they’ve ever done.” Why don’t we regret having children more? One possibility is a phenomenon called memory distortion... The attachment we have to an individual can supersede an overall decrease in our quality of life... This relates to a second point, which is that there’s more to life than happiness. When I say that raising my sons is the best thing I’ve ever done, I’m not saying that they gave me pleasure in any simple day-to-day sense, and I’m not saying that they were good for my marriage. I’m talking about something deeper, having to do with satisfaction, purpose, and meaning. It’s not just me. When you ask people about their life’s meaning and purpose, parents say that their lives have more meaning than those of nonparents. A study by the social psychologist Roy Baumeister and his colleagues found that the more time people spent taking care of children, the more meaningful they said their life was—even though they reported that their life was no happier."
Or it could be cognitive dissonance

Kiwi shoe polish to disappear as UK no longer cares about shiny shoes - "The firm said the decline in the habit of polishing shoes - as a result of growing numbers of people working from home and the rise of ubiquitous trainers - has led it to focus on other markets.  A Kiwi spokesman said it has seen a fall in the number of Britons polishing their shoes, coinciding with a “rise in casual shoes that don’t require formal polishing”. The firm added that it would still sell products in countries where formal shoe care “remains relevant”.  Kiwi polish is bought in at least 120 countries around the world and accounts for more than half the polish sold globally, with office workers and members of the armed forces - where a mirror-like sheen on boots and leather belts is expected - supplying much of its customer base... Mr James, who has shoe-shine chairs in London’s Canary Wharf, added: “In part this is because people wear suits and smart shoes much less. Covid accelerated that with more working from home, but a trend was in place before then.  “Also, trainers are being worn more and more – even to work. While shoes are dying, trainers are alive. We now renovate sneakers – repair and paint them.”... Kiwi was created by William Ramsay, an Australian who gave it the name because his wife Annie was a New Zealander."

The 60-Second Migraine Massage a Neurologist Swears by for Instant Relief

Meme - *Gandalf the White with breasts*

Meme - "La vie est une question de perspective. Vous pourriez penser que vous êtes un lion..... Mais pour certaines personnes, vous êtes une bite."

Meme - "simplehuman. It took me way too long to realize what I was looking at here. *hole in box to carry it looking like penis*"

Meme - "Te permet d'envahir europe avec rapidité et puissance
Tout pareil mais avec Charisme et le panache à la française"

Universal Studios' new Mario Kart ride ripped for rules restricting plus-sized visitors - "Super Nintendo World made a splashy debut at Universal Studios Hollywood this month with its soft opening, and gamers and tourists alike raced to see what the park had to offer and to get in line to test out its highly-anticipated Mario Kart ride... “Unfortunately, the new Mario Kart Bowser’s Challenge attraction comes with a warning that guests whose waistline is at least 40 inches or greater may not be accommodated on the ride.”... CDC statistics show that to be a problematic number for ride goers, however, indicating that the average U.S. male scantily exceeds the 40-inch limit with a waist circumference of 40.5-inch while the average woman’s waist circumference measures 38.7-inch, leaving people to ask if the requirement is far too restrictive as some claim."

Meme - "This February, be sure to celebrate the lives of black men that have changed history *Michele Obama, Shaun King, "Wood" / "Big Barry" / Wardy Joubert III, Chappelle playing blind black KKK leader Clayton Bigsby, Micah Xavier Johnson who killed 8 cops in Dallas, Bill Cosby, OJ Simpson, Robert Downey Jr in Blackface*"

Ants use their flattened heads as doors to lock down their nests | New Scientist - "That’s the stubborn strategy of door head ants – they use their heads like wine corks to plug their nests.  Weird as it sounds, such traits have evolved again and again, in a specialised caste of species from at least eight ant genera – including two new species just discovered in Ivory Coast and Kenya."

Meme - "Me remembering the time I walked in on my boyfriend cheating on me and left and came back five minutes later and asked to join... they declined"

Meme - Henpecked Hal: "My toddler just spent five minutes explaining that he can't use his imagination because he traded it to a kid at daycare for some fruit snacks. Ok, bro."

笑图俱乐部!!!保证笑死你 - Posts | Facebook - "那是我们都回不去的从前🥲
马来西亚原本也是很开放的
性感美女的日历随便印
酒也没有说限制什么
其实马来人以前也不戴头巾,从80年代开始才开始戴
(转载:Janifer Cena)"
Scantily clad women in Malaysia in the 60s and 70s, mostly on calendars

Meme - "Don't be so hard on yourself if you never made it on a 40 under 40 or forbes 400 list
*Sam Bankman-Fried, Elizabeth Holmes*"

Taiwan Bakery's Abs Buns Look So Good, We Wish We Had Them In Abundance - "One Taiwan bakery in Taichung has certainly aced it by marketing their buns as abs, much to the amusement of many... the buns are for the health-conscious, with wheat flour imported from Japan and containing 40% less sugar."
These "low-carb buns" are not low carb

Meme - "5 year old me wanting to be like Vegeta
Me now *Balding*"

Meme - "The power of Christ compels you! *baptism with watergun*"

Meme - "Yes, that just about correctly describes Malaysian yoghurt
Farm Fresh Natural Yogurt Yogurt Asli
FAIL"

Meme - "SWEET OUTHOUSE, MAN! BUT YOU'RE ALL OUT OF TOILET PAPER"
"THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S MY ICE FISHING SHACK"

Meme - "Inceldom Discussion
[Serious] My cousin was selfish for not helping me escape inceldom
29 yo permavirgin and lolicon.
She never did anything to help me. She never let me fuck her. I was 13 years old when I first met her at my grandmother's place; she was 4 years my senior. My mom had forced me to spend two weeks at my grandmother's place with my cousins. I was miserable the whole time because I had wasted a lot of time chasing after my cousin. I must have tried everything to get into her pants. I even asked her to let me do it. But she threatened to tell everything to my mom, and I was forced to apologize. She didn't have sex with me because I'm ugly. It wouldn't have hurt her to help me. I would have gained a confidence boost, and my life would have been a lot different. Your family was supposed to be there for you. Your female cousins are the ones who should teach you how to kiss and have sex. She's 34 now. I don't want her anymore, anyway. She's overweight and has a downie child. I kind of envy her husband though. They met each other when she was still in her 20s; when she was still hot. He must have enjoyed fucking her while I had to content myself with masturbation. I like to imagine that her retarded child is mine. We masturbated so much while thinking of her that I managed to miraculously impregnate her. Lol it's just a silly fantasy though."

Meme - "Ever see that one movie where The Rock is in the jungle?
These are 4 separate movies"

Harriet Lerner on Twitter - ""Courage is knowing it might hurt and doing it anyway. Stupidity is the same. That's why life is hard." --Jeremy Goldberg"

(ROBIN) on Twitter - "the first thing our new hire did was fix a bug that's been bugging him forever as a user prior to joining. he then breathed a sigh of relief and submitted his two weeks' notice. wtf??"

Pornhub cuts Utah residents’ access to its site in protest of age verification law - "“While safety and compliance are at the forefront of our mission, giving your ID card every time you want to visit an adult platform is not the most effective solution for protecting our users and, in fact, will put children and your privacy at risk,” DeVille said in the video."
I watched the actual video but they never justify the claim that it will put children at risk

Parental income might influence the probability of homosexuality and bisexuality in adult children - "“There appears to be a biological influence on same-sex attraction through exposure to testosterone prenatally (low testosterone in gay men and high in lesbians). Prenatal testosterone levels are probably influenced by genes and homosexuality tends to reduce offspring number,” said study author John T. Manning, a professor and honorary research fellow at Swansea University, and author of “The Finger Book: Sex, Behaviour and Disease Revealed in the Fingers.”  “We have recently shown that a marker for prenatal testosterone (the 2D:4D) varies in children across the income groups of their parents. Children from parents with low income show evidence of low prenatal testosterone and those from high income parents have high fetal testosterone.”... The researchers found a curvilinear relationship between parental income and self-identified sexual orientation of their adult children.  The highest frequencies of homosexuality and bisexuality for both women and men occurred among those who described their parent’s income as “much lower than others.” The lowest frequency of homosexuality occurred among those who described their parent’s income as “slightly higher than others,” while intermediate frequencies of homosexuality occurred among women and men who described their parent’s income as “much higher than others.”"

Commentary: The nature of MP Tin Pei Ling’s new role at Grab muddies perception - "The news that Member of Parliament (MP) Tin Pei Ling has joined tech giant Grab in a full-time role as director of public affairs and policy at Grab Singapore has been widely reported in the local and international media, and lit up the Internet...   I am surprised that Grab, being a company listed in the US, would employ an MP, who is considered a politically exposed person. Perhaps Grab’s head of ethics and compliance and general counsel deemed this a non-issue because she is not a board director or senior officer and her appointment is Singapore-based... even perceived conflicts can be problematic. Further, declaring an interest or conflict is the minimum - it merely makes others aware of the interest or conflict but often does not resolve it...   Even if Ms Tin’s role is not Singapore-based and does not involve interactions with the government bodies and officials here, perceptions of conflicts will likely remain because Grab is ubiquitous in Singapore and facing potentially increasing regulation impacting its business, particularly regarding the rights of gig workers.  Also, how would Ms Tin address perceptions that information she receives as an MP may be used to benefit Grab, even if unconsciously?  As director of public affairs and policy, the potential conflicts are intensified because her job responsibilities are likely to require her to oversee government relations and ensure that Grab’s views are communicated to the Government.  All MPs face challenges when treading the line in balancing roles, but in this type of position, the challenges are even more acute."
There're actually people defending this. There is a specious comparison made to He Ting Ru. This ignores the facts that a Head of Legal and Communications is a very different job to Head of Public Affairs and Policy, that He Ting Ru oversaw/oversees those matters for Asia, North America, Europe and Africa while Tin Pei Ling is overseeing them for Singapore, that Opposition MPs have no power, and that He Ting Ru got the job before becoming an MP, not after as with Tin Pei Ling

MP Tin Pei Ling joins Grab: Conflict of interest or much ado about nothing? | The Straits Times - "But there may be double standards here, given that there seems to be less public outcry over MPs being practising doctors or lawyers. "One does get the feeling the public is more accepting of some MP jobs than others," said Prof Theseira, suggesting that some constituents may feel that their MPs can more flexibly manage their affairs with such jobs."
Ridiculous spin. As if being a doctor or lawyer has this type of conflict of interest

Tin Pei Ling - Digital Marketing Asia 2022 - "she concurrently serves as the Chairperson of the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Communications & Information (also includes Smart Nation & Digital Government), and a member of the GPC for Culture, Community & Youth"

Commentary: Tin Pei Ling's Role At Grab Puts Her In A Tricky Situation - "The old Singapore Press Holdings’ (SPH) stable of newspapers would move journalists who become MPs to non-editorial positions. One reason was to save the individuals from attacks of being pro-party (or Government) when they write news reports or commentaries... Doctors and lawyers do not deal with the Government on a day-to-day basis as part of their job scope. Ms Tin will be doing so. It’s her job.  In fact, it is a sign of how tone-deaf and half-blind Grab and Ms Tin are to feelings on the ground that they settled on such a corporate title... There are those who point at her wonderful constituency record, arguing that the criticisms are just attempts to tar the PAP. They put up social media posts detailing the resumes of opposition politicians with jobs.  I find it amusing because these posters surely realise that there are plenty more such resumes on the PAP side. And what has a wonderful constituency record got to do with “conflict of interest’’?...   Ms Tin can very well declare her interest when speaking about the industry in Parliament. But the issue is also about her day-to-day dealings with civil servants as part of her work.  I would say that there would be little impact if ordinary people relate to MPs as ordinary people, rather than members of the ruling party which is the Government.  This is Singapore, where having a network is an advantage, and respect for one’s position is still a value...  no one can deny that the bottom line is that politicians should be (if not seen to be) as white as they can be, if not whiter.  That means extricating themselves from tricky situations that could test their loyalties or cause others to question them.  Politically, it’s a no-brainer. Ms Tin shouldn’t have accepted her job. She would have saved herself – and the PAP – a lot of aggro.  Now that she has, she will be working, both as an MP and an employee, under a cloud."

MP Tin Pei Ling’s initial role at Grab could pose some challenges 'especially under current circumstances': PAP - "The People’s Action Party (PAP) on Friday (Feb 10) said it is essential that Members of Parliament (MPs) “rigorously” separate their public role from their interests in their private careers and acknowledged that Ms Tin Pei Ling’s initial appointment at Grab could pose some challenges, “especially under the current circumstances”... PAP said that it initially did not object to Ms Tin taking up the position when she first informed the party in September... It did not elaborate on what the current circumstances are"

MP Tin Pei Ling moves from public affairs to corporate development at Grab Singapore, following conflict of interest outcry

Questions remain over Tin Pei Ling's role at Grab; firms should be more careful in hiring MPs, say analysts - "Associate Professor Chong Ja Ian of National University of Singapore's (NUS) Department of Political Science said that while Grab addressing the potential conflict of interest is “more helpful than not” doing so, the question remains as to why Grab wanted to hire Ms Tin in a role relating to public affairs and policy in the first place.  “They must know that it would raise questions about conflicts of interest,” said Assoc Prof Chong... Prof Mak Yuen Teen, a corporate governance expert who is professor (practice) of accounting at NUS, said that Ms Tin will have to be “extremely careful” in how she handles information she receives in her role as MP and chairperson of the GPC for Communications and Information that would seem to be relevant to Grab's business... Grab’s move on Friday will also set a precedent for a parliamentarian to not work in a role where potential for conflict of interest is probable, and not just possible, he added...   Analysts said that companies must be more careful when hiring office bearers in roles that could potentially lead to conflict, as well as the public perception it might create.   Describing Grab's initial appointment as "naive", Prof Mak said that companies and individuals should ask how they will look if their appointment appears in the news... Assoc Prof Chong said that he hopes there will be more stringent measures on MPs working for private firms, especially as they may affect public perception about conflict of interest."

"CEO is too young and inexperienced", says former employee at Business China on Glassdoor - "several PAP MPs served as Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of Business China,  a non-profit organization (NPO) registered in Singapore, presumably paid in the range of S$200,000 to S$300,000 annually...   Despite the relatively high salary of the organization’s key management personnel, reviews on the job search platform Glassdoor have raised concerns about the organization’s direction and work culture."

Meme - Rob Sand @RobSandlA: "QUICK: think of -anything- where you only have 2 choices. Never very satisfying is it. So let's stop accepting a system of running our government that limits us the same way" - 28 Dec 22
Rob Sand @RobSandlA: "School vouchers are an imported idea pushed by powerful groups who are focused on ideology, not on what's best for lowa." - 28 Dec 22

Japanese porn company wants to use virgin power to create electricity for romantic Tokyo event

Meme - "Harry Potter Die Hard Fans
I am a superfan
Like: Lord of the Rings
Love: Harry Potter
Like: 4.6k. Love: 3.3k
I love democracy."

Meme - "JESUS IS MY COPILot AND WE'RE CRUSING FoR Pussy"

Meme - "I have always wondered what it means to be human. Is it the ability to reason? The ability to love? Nope, turns out it is the ability to select all of the images with a traffic light."

Meme - Jackson Peters: "Rule 34 states that if it exists then there's porn of it, but I exist yet there's no porn of me. Checkmate."
Proud Degenerate: "You sure about that? http://rule34***"
Jackson Peters: "Yo fucking delete that, don't draw me like that. What the fuck is wrong with you?"
Proud Degenerate: "I've fapped to it twice already, going for a third once I recharge."

molly on Twitter - "Was in Paris on Friday night and a handsome French man was flirting with me and I asked him what his name was and he said (very Frenchly) “Ah you will be disappointed” and I thought what a silly thing to say and then he said “it is Kevin” and you know what? I was disappointed." Meme - Fly540.com: "We are waiting for you!" Cynthia is on board an ready to see you through your fight today on www.fly540.com"
Victor Ayoki: "Now this is what I call delicious"
Fly540.com: "We offer free snacks on board all our flights. No need to eat our crew..."

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