It took a trip abroad for me to realise how screwed Britain is - "I live in London, a capital where it seems like almost everything is on the rise. Transport costs, rent, knife crime, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour. Yet in Copenhagen, society as whole just felt, at least to me, safer and more respectful. Maybe it’s down to their belief in ‘hygge’, a cultural concept that encourages cosiness, comfort and conviviality and appreciating the small comforts in life. But my trip showed how important simple things like not dropping litter, being polite to people and taking pride in their surroundings were to local residents, and how the apparent lack of such things show a Britain that is on the decline. There’s no groups of balaclava clad teens looting high street stores, as we saw during grim scenes in Oxford Street earlier this month, and there’s no sign of empty nitrous oxide canisters strewn across pavements... instead of finding ways to help our citizens with the cost-of-living crisis, the Tory government, led by Rishi Sunak, has basically sat with their arms crossed. As Sunak (and Keir Starmer) back the two-child cap on benefits, in Denmark, family benefits have increased. With so many of our fellow Brits in poverty, it is no surprise that shoplifting has risen by 24% and police are finding it hard to cope. It’s not just criminality that makes me think Britain is a dumpster fire – our general way of life has become a daily struggle. Strike action has been crippling the nation with teachers, university staff, ambulance drivers and nurses all walking out over pay... I could blame Brexit for the way our country is – and I’ve no doubt that has had an effect on some of what is happening – but we can’t use the B-word as the sole excuse for the sense we are going backwards. Frankly, we need a fundamental and radical shift in the culture and attitude here, so that we are as proud of our locale as the people I met in Copenhagen."
Ironically, the writer likely believes that deporting illegal immigrants who commit crimes is racist and promoting national values or identity is fascist
John Bonnett: Weaponizing plagiarism will help restore faith in academic institutions - "The key takeaway of the retraction crisis is that the working cultures of universities require repair, despite defenders’ protests. If researchers are willing to engage in data falsification, it is no stretch to believe that they may also plagiarize. All of us have a fundamental question to answer: do we really want dishonest people driving research that has real-world consequences for the rest of us? If not, then we should thank activists like Rufo and Ackman for initiating a search to determine the nature and extent of corrupt conduct in North America’s universities."
Living in New York City in my 20s wasn't worth it. I was finally able to save up 6 figures after leaving the city. - "I often felt like I was living from paycheck to paycheck. There was immense pressure to have a wardrobe of trendy pieces. I had enough clothing, most bought on sale, to fill a closet and two clothing racks. My monthly expenses added up quickly with student loan payments, gym memberships, exercise classes, taxis, and going out several times a week for dinner and drinks. My savings were essentially nonexistent... I saved around $10,000 by selling my designer clothes at consignment shops. Letting go of Christian Louboutin shoes and Louis Vuitton handbags was painful, but with each sale, I could envision myself traveling to some far-off destination... I haven't moved back to the States since leaving New York. I've mostly lived alone in modern apartments in trendy neighborhoods. I've lived in Madrid, Chaing Mai, Thailand; Hoi An, Vietnam; Montevideo, Uruguay; and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and never paid more than $800 a month for housing."
Exchange rate arbitrage is the "solution" to expensive rent and feeling the need to keep up with the Joneses
Work wellness programs have zero mental health benefits, study says - "Only one program appeared to boost mental health: volunteering. That could be because charity work helps give people a greater sense of purpose, which increases feelings of belonging, Fleming said. But even then, he sounded a note of caution. “The estimated effects are small, probably selection-biased and these initiatives would not engage with the job demands and resources central to theoretical and empirical understandings of work well-being.”"
"Wellness" in general probably is useless
ReelShorts is the latest Chinese export to conquer America - "Apps that trace their roots to China have become wildly popular in America in recent years. The cheap products sold by Shein and Temu have found deep markets in America, as have video clips created by TikTok’s mostly Western users. ReelShort builds on earlier Crazy Maple apps, such as Chapters (a story-game launched in 2017, which lets readers choose their own adventure) and Kiss (which offers a wide selection of romance and mystery stories, and now ranks 14th in the App Store’s books category). The trend contradicts the idea that Chinese cultural products do not translate well for Western audiences... like other Chinese-linked apps that are popular in America, ReelShort does not advertise its Chinese roots. The Crazy Maple website makes no mention of China. Similarly, Temu, which is owned by PDD, one of China’s biggest e-commerce groups, describes itself as being “founded in Boston”. TikTok, whose owner, ByteDance, is based in Beijing, and Shein, which was founded in China and relies on Chinese garment-makers, have both moved their headquarters to Singapore. The apps have something else in common—they have all targeted foreign markets in part to get around challenges in China. Although Shein and Temu sought their luck abroad from their inception, that may be in part because the domestic market has been looking weak. TikTok is a way for ByteDance to hedge against periodic value-destroying tech crackdowns by the communist authorities (though it has run into other problems in America, where some politicians are calling for a ban owing to its Chinese ties). COL’s bet on America, too, may be a response to problems at home. By the end of February Chinese censors had purged the web of 1.4m micro-series episodes and shut down 2,420 mini-shows deemed to be explicit or vulgar. America has no government censors—and explicit vulgarity may be a selling-point."
Meme - *Celebrities who look alike*
Karen Gillan / Brittany Roberison
Ralph Fiennes / Bradley Cooper
Zooey Deschanel / Alexis Biedel
Karen Gillan / Aya Cash
Chris Eccleston / Ralph Fiennes
Katy Perry / Zooey Deshanel
Julia Roberts / Anne Hathaway
Hugh Jackman / Clint Eastwood
Gene Kelly / Jean Dujardin
Ines de la Fressange / Anne Hathaway
Georges Clooney / Cary Grant
Ute Lemper / Greta Garbo
Garret Dillahunt / Peter Krause
Sandra Bullock / Famke Janssen
Jean-Pierre Bacri / Michael Ironside
Sherilyne Fenn / Elisabeth Taylor
Daniel Radcliffe / Elijah Wood
Kristen Schaal / Valerie Bonneton"
Meme - RAW EGG NATIONALIST @Babygravy9: "Genuine question: How long is the US State Department going to allow Bukele to continue embarrassing the US like this? It's like every single thing he does is calculated to remind Americans how far they've strayed or rather, been led from normality."
Nayib Bukele @nayibbukele: "jFeliz Navidad! Merry Christmas! *normal family photo with 2 parents and 2 children*"
Meme - Ry Mac: ""Beauty is an ultimate value... something that we pursue for its own sake, and for the pursuit of which no further reason need be given. Beauty should therefore be compared to truth and goodness, one member of a trio of ultimate values which justify our rational inclinations." - Sir Roger Scruton *ballerina*"
Meme - "For every girl won't treat you right, there are three gay guys who will eat onion rings off your boner."
Meme - "15 YEARS AGO
'your art is great, however, some of the content in your panels is concerning. I've arranged a meeting with your guidance counsellor for further discussion'
ABSTINENCE CARTOON DIALOG
THE PRESSURE - HURR LET'S HAVE SEX LOL UR HAWT
'At least attempt to take this seriously'
SAYING NO - NO MEANS NO
BODY LANGUAGE - NON VERBAL NO
SUGGEST HEALTHY ALTERNATIVE - 'HELL NO LET'S GO TO CHURCH!' 'NO THX'
RELATIONSHIP BUILDING - YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT YOU'RE NO MAN I CAN FIND GUYS SO MUCH BETTER THAN YOU NEVERMIND THE FACT THAT YOU'RE A...
MOVING ON - HA, HA ABSTINENCE *shoots head with pistol*
'Inappropriate. I do not see the meaning to this.'
Timehop"
Chart: Mother's Day: Because "I Want To" or "I Have To"? - "We might not say it as often as we should, but most of us love our mothers. Mother's Day then, is surely the perfect opportunity to show your feelings and appreciation. According to a new YouGov survey though, larges shares of people in some countries see it as more of a hassle pushed on us by commercial entities such as card companies. It seems that the feeling of 'having to' show your love on a specific day is troublesome for a lot of us. Of the countries surveyed, nowhere is this more true than in Denmark, where 61 percent of adults say Mother's Day is mainly celebrated because of pressure from commercial interests. The story is similar in Sweden and Germany, but this isn't a view typical of the whole of Europe. At the other end of the scale, 85 percent of those asked in Poland said that it's a "proper" special occasion and is celebrated accordingly. Relatively high levels of this sentiment can also be found in China and India."
Meme - @chloellene chloe ellen: "this is my favourite piece of literary criticism of all time
Pride and Prejudice (Vintage Classics)
mr carlton b morgan
1/5 - Just a bunch of people going to each other's houses"
Meme - "Be the American the Japanese think you are *Guile fron Street Fighter*, *Bandit Keith from Yu-Gi-Oh!*, *Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear*, *Ein from Fist of the North Star*"
Don’t get Ramly from Pasar Malays : SingaporeRaw - "Yesterday, I went to the pasar malam outside Tampines MRT to get Ramly burger. The store did not have a price chart. I ordered one double beef burger and asked for the price. The guy told me to “wait”. When I went back to collect my order, he told me that it was $8. Even though it was off I still paid him the money. Later, I asked my malay friend to go ask how much it was. The store owner said $6. I had went there last week and ordered the same thing. It was also $6 not $8. So i got the chinese price. It wasn’t some sudden price increase. It was simply because I wasn’t malay. So tldr don’t go for ramly anymore since they charge what they feel like charging and cheat you base on ur race. Regret not confronting him there and then so this is what i’m doing."
We are still told that Malays hawkers overcharging non-Malays in Singapore is a myth
Shelving of SimplyGo plan exposes LTA’s lack of preparedness: Observers - "The shelving of plans to phase out older adult public transport payment cards was met with relief by public transport users, who said they were glad their concerns were heard. But some felt the aborted exercise was ultimately redundant, and expressed frustration at the inconvenience they had to bear to update their ez-link cards. Observers said the shelving of plans to move towards SimplyGo, an account-based ticketing platform, on Jan 22 exposed issues with the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) communication strategy and lack of preparedness. Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said the authorities will spend an extra $40 million to allow commuters to continue using older ez-link and Nets FlashPay cards, which operate on an old card-based ticketing system. He said LTA will allow those who updated their ez-link cards to SimplyGo between Jan 9 and 22 to exchange them for those that rely on the card-based system for free. This would allow them to view fare information and their card’s balance when they tap out from a bus or MRT stop – something SimplyGo cannot yet do... Ms Claudine Ho, 51, a medical industry administrator, said it took her husband three tries at three locations before he could update his senior concession card so it could work with SimplyGo. She added: “If LTA wants to roll out a new system, make sure people on the ground can manage.” Insurance manager Madeline Tan, 51, uses a SimplyGo card, but said she does not support LTA’s transition plan as she was concerned some people would not know how to use the SimplyGo app to check their card balance... Associate Professor Walter Theseira, head of the urban transportation programme at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, said the backlash against SimplyGo was the result of a policy blind spot. While SimplyGo may be a better system for many, the mistake was to assume that all commuters would like the account-based system, he added. LTA also did not explain thoroughly why it needed to phase out the card-based ticketing system... Assistant Professor Fan also noted that this was the second time in recent months that LTA had changed course in response to a public outcry. The first episode was in November 2023, when it reversed its decision to withdraw bus service 167."
It doesn't display the fare either
Europe’s centrist parties let industry rot and society fragment. Now they’re being punished for it - New Statesman - "Centrist political parties have been struggling in many parts of Europe. There are two opposing literary images that spring to mind. Tolstoy’s unhappy families – in which each family is miserable in its own unique way – is the narrative of political journalism. It explains the decline of the centre in terms of national stories: French pension reforms; German energy policy; Italian stagnation. The opposing view is that of a unifying force behind the chaos in European politics, the Spiritus Mundi in Yeats’s poem “The Second Coming”: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” France is the most interesting example as it is the only country that tried to reinvent the middle ground through Emmanuel Macron’s radical centrism. That came and went. He won last year’s presidential contest, but then failed to win a majority in the parliamentary elections. When the National Assembly balked at his pension reforms in March, Macron invoked Article 49.3 of the French constitution, which let him override a parliamentary vote. This led to massive, ongoing protests and a slump in his approval ratings. The far-right leader Marine Le Pen and, to a lesser extent, the far left have both benefited from the fiasco... Why is this happening in so many countries at the same time? One answer is that the social fabric that supported the centre has come unstuck. It’s partly an economic story, but you can’t reduce it to a series of numbers. In postwar Europe, industry provided lifelong employment, and guaranteed pensions and social stability. Industrial plants were surrounded by sprawling neighbourhoods. People were rooted in their communities. This is why the Germans talk about Industriegesellschaft – industrial society – as opposed to industrial economy. It is a way of life. I also see the decline of the industrial society as the reason why European voters have reacted so strongly against immigration. It was only when people started to fear for their economic future that immigration mattered. Europe saw mass immigration in the second half of the 20th century – but from a very low previous level, and without political consequences... In France and Italy, more voters now support parties of the hard right and hard left than the classic centre parties. Italy was hit by deindustrialisation first, and has gone further down the road of political radicalisation. Since adopting the euro, Italy has generated almost no productivity growth. Over the last 20 years, I have spent much time in Liguria, a once prosperous coastal region in north-western Italy, bordering France. It is still one of the most beautiful spots in Europe. The most outwardly visible sign of economic decline is abandonment – the dereliction of shops, houses and farmland. It is a dying land. The European Commission classified Liguria as one the European regions worst affected by brain drain. Smallhold olive farming is one of its main agricultural sectors, but has become progressively less lucrative. Your best bet for finding a job in Liguria is through family connections. Neighbouring Piedmont to the north is also on the Commission’s list of regions in decline. This is the land of Fiat, wine and truffles. Three German states, all in the east, are also on the list of despair. These are the strongholds of the Left Party and of the far-right AfD. Germany has been relatively lucky. It benefited from cheap labour from east Europe and cheap gas from Russia. But this is over now... The costly green energy transition is also driving voters away from the centre. The latest example of this is a law to force homeowners to upgrade their heating at an immense cost... Is the decline of the centre reversible? In theory, yes. But I do not expect this to happen, as the centre is not addressing the causes of why it is losing support: the addiction to short-term fixes, which contributed to deindustrialisation. This is how we ended up with quantitative easing, fiscal austerity, lockdown and economic sanctions, all with huge, unaccounted-for long-term consequences. As Yeats wrote: “Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world.”"
Meme - Witch King of Angmar: "Fool... No man can kill me"
Eowyn: "I am no man"
Witch King of Angmar: "Well, technically... When I say "no man" I'm saying that no human creature can. But since Merry just stabbed me with his magical 'barrow-dagger', my connection to Sauron has been broken and I'm no longer bound to the power of the ring, thus making me now mortal. Anyone can kill me at this point, it's just you, a woman, who happens to be in front of me at this particular moment."
LEGO Piece 32557 | Know Your Meme - "LEGO Piece 32557 refers to a specific LEGO piece that internet users tell each other 'Don't Google' as a form of bait-and-switch media because the shape of the LEGO resembles a phallus."
a handprint on my heart - "on todays edition of “we need to legally require people to google words before using them”: there is a girl on tiktok doing a diet where she only eats slavic food to “connect with her ancestors” and she is calling it an “ethnic cleanse”"
Meme - "*people pushing cubes across landscape*
*man pushing sphere across landscape, which he carved from a cube*
"Don't work hard work intelligent"
Client: Hello, so I ordered 1000 cubes for my home made pyramid but you sent me 998 ones and 2 spheres
Boss: What do you mean, we don't even sell spheres.
Client: Well, apparently one of your employees spent the entire work day cutting two of them into spheres so he can roll them
Boss: Oh lord, it was probably John, he is kind of an idiot. We will fix this as soon as possible.
Client: Thanks a lot."
Are Republicans and Conservatives More Likely to Believe Conspiracy Theories? - "A sizable literature tracing back to Richard Hofstadter’s The Paranoid Style (1964) argues that Republicans and conservatives are more likely to believe conspiracy theories than Democrats and liberals. However, the evidence for this proposition is mixed. Since conspiracy theory beliefs are associated with dangerous orientations and behaviors, it is imperative that social scientists better understand the connection between conspiracy theories and political orientations. Employing 20 surveys of Americans from 2012 to 2021 (total n = 37,776), as well as surveys of 20 additional countries spanning six continents (total n = 26,416), we undertake an expansive investigation of the asymmetry thesis. First, we examine the relationship between beliefs in 52 conspiracy theories and both partisanship and ideology in the U.S.; this analysis is buttressed by an examination of beliefs in 11 conspiracy theories across 20 more countries. In our second test, we hold constant the content of the conspiracy theories investigated—manipulating only the partisanship of the theorized villains—to decipher whether those on the left or right are more likely to accuse political out-groups of conspiring. Finally, we inspect correlations between political orientations and the general predisposition to believe in conspiracy theories over the span of a decade. In no instance do we observe systematic evidence of a political asymmetry. Instead, the strength and direction of the relationship between political orientations and conspiricism is dependent on the characteristics of the specific conspiracy beliefs employed by researchers and the socio-political context in which those ideas are considered."
Damn idiot conservatives!
Bonnie Crombie says Ontario Liberals veered too far left as she looks to lead the party - The Globe and Mail - "Ms. Crombie said the party, both under Steven Del Duca in the 2022 campaign and in its electoral collapse in 2018 under then-premier Kathleen Wynne, had moved too far to the left."
The left wingers are going to be very upset, since they claim that the Liberals are not left enough
Meme - "How haven't I risked my life and tried this yet?!! IoI *woman riding man while driving in reverse cowgirl*"
Meme - "The height of loneliness is when you fill the sex doll with helium, so she plays hard to catch"
Meme - "Me, seeing my girlfriends titties for the 10,000th time: *starry eyed cat*"
Meme - "sticking your weiner in poop *woman looking askance*
sticking your weiner in poop that's still inside someone *woman looking intrigued*"
On anal sex
Meme - "I will honor the customs of my ancestors!"
*White man with discount viking horned helmet and rune tattoo seeing woman with goat*
*White man with discount viking horned helmet and rune tattoo seeing cave painting of man fucking animal*
Meme - Fesshole @fesshole: "My blonde girlfriend found a long dark hair in my bed. I was so embarrassed and ashamed. I let her think I had shagged someone else than admit I hadn't changed the bedsheets since the end of my previous relationship."
Meme - "I can't believe he broke up with me, I really thought he was the one.."
"Just because you two dated for 5 years doesn't mean he'll marry you babe I studied engineering for 4 years but now I'm doing marketing"
Meme - "Got mail from a guy I hooked up with. mha heart. mha soul.
When I see you... I turtle-y lose control
Sorry I came in 30 seconds -Tre"
The Marshmallow Test: What Does It Really Measure? - The Atlantic - "Affluence—not willpower—seems to be what’s behind some kids’ capacity to delay gratification."
Revisiting the Marshmallow Test: A Conceptual Replication Investigating Links Between Early Delay of Gratification and Later Outcomes
Cuttlefish Can Pass The Famed ‘Marshmallow Test,’ Study Finds
Cuttlefish have very high SES
Unfortunately for the writer and the left, the paper says something rather different: "models with controls for concurrent measures of cognitive skills and behavior reduced the association between delay of gratification and age-15 achievement to nearly zero" and "early delay of gratification did indeed correlate with later achievement for children whose mothers had not completed college"
Meme - "My girl wanted a piggy back picture on the beach and a random biker watching the sunset said he wanted one too"
Meme - ATTENTION PATRIOTS. MEET YOUR CIVIL WAR OPPONENTS"
*Fat man in dress, topless skinny man with "human rights. animal rights. veganism. atheism. feminism are the future" written on skin"
Meme - "Meet your Civil War opponents *Fat woman with cyan hair, skinny man, skinny man in women's clothing, skinny man*"
Meme - *Bridge*: "CAPACIDAD MAXIMA 10 PERSONAS. CAPACITY 3 AMERICANS"