CBC CEO Catherine Tait shows lack of leadership on question of bonuses - "“The viewership of the CBC is cut in half since you took leadership in 2018. It’s come down by half. So it’s interesting to me that you’re giving bonuses or performance awards, when in fact the CBC is performing the poorest it’s ever performed”... “My question for you, for 2023, will you be given a bonus?” Thomas asked. “It’s not my decision whether I get a get a bonus or not,” Tait finally blurted out after being forced to answer the question. MPs from the Liberals, NDP and Bloc all tried to get Tait to answer questions about bonuses and every time, she claimed she couldn’t answer because it’s not the end of the fiscal year yet. More than once, Tait attempted to say that she has no say over the issue of bonuses despite being the CEO and holding a seat on the board. Let’s be clear, given CBC’s financial situation, given the job cuts that have been announced, given their dismal ratings for a flagship show like CBC’s The National, bonuses are not warranted at this time. How can CBC justify paying $16 million, or even “just” $14.9 million in bonuses when jobs are being cut and Tait is complaining about the state of the company’s finances?"
Meme - "Imagine getting in a cab blacked out tryna make it home and you wake up with $3000 in your pocket. You panic cause you don't know how you got the money, 10 months later you're watching tv and see your drunk ass getting in the back of the Cash Cab and nailing all the questions"
Meme - "You're not a top or a bottom. You're Fourteen"
When Poilievre met Murphy, and the Liberals lost their minds - The Globe and Mail - "About a minute and a half in, before the journalists even got to their excellent “What on earth are you talking about?” questions, you could see the light leave Mr. Gerretsen’s eyes. It was like Wile E. Coyote in a navy suit, racing out beyond the edge of a cliff, then looking down and realizing what he’d done to himself. Gatineau, Que., MP Steven MacKinnon had been standing just off Mr. Gerretsen’s left shoulder, staring at the air a few feet in front of him, as though he already regretted what had not yet happened. Now he joined his colleague at the microphone, listing off policies Poilievre had not announced, and complaining that nobody had asked him questions about these non-things... “What does it say, the fact that you’re holding a press conference to respond to his year-end interviews?” my Globe colleague Marieke Walsh asked, in a delightfully and deservedly impertinent tone. “I mean, how far back on your heels are you that you feel the need to do that?” “What’s your issue here, that he did some friendly interviews?” Stephanie Taylor of The Canadian Press asked, in a similarly are-you-kidding-me voice. “I’m just confused as to why we’re here, and why we’re listening and doing this.” It went on like this for a while. The reporters kept asking the Liberals several different ways if they’d lost their minds. The MPs kept offering, with decreasing enthusiasm and certainty that was both heartbreaking and hilarious, arguments that Mr. Poilievre and the Tories were not to be trusted."
It doesn't stop the left wingers frothing over how PP is the embodiment of pure evil
alex zawacki on X - "The first time I was ever in Germany I met a nun who spoke no English, and I spoke no German, so we sort of hobbled through a conversation in Latin, to the total surprise of both of us"
Free parking for teachers: Unfair hidden subsidy, or well-deserved perk? - "The public outcry may have been surprising to some observers. The economic and moral case for charging for parking might have seemed clear cut. There had been little or no public reaction to the AGO’s July 2015 pronouncement that ITE and the two polytechnics should charge users, including their own staff, for parking. Government policies to control the car population have put owning a car out of reach of most Singaporeans, and even those who do drive are likely accustomed to paying for parking, even at their own place of work. Little sympathy for the driving teachers might thus have been expected. And yet, if netizens’ comments were representative, not only teachers but members of the public with no vested interest in the decision were strongly against a change... any do think that teachers are special and more deserving than other civil servants. Furthermore, this argument could equally be an argument for providing free parking to all civil servants, if indeed all were as hardworking or self-sacrificial as teachers. More fundamentally, the civil service does not pay civil servants based on how hardworking or otherwise morally-deserving they are. Instead, it pays civil servants “a salary comparable with that of the private sector for an employee with similar abilities and responsibilities.”... the beneficiaries of this failure to charge market rates already earn more than the average Singaporean, and they have a car, something that most Singaporeans are unable to afford. It seems unfair to help this privileged group at the expense of worse-off Singaporeans... Not all teachers drive to school, whereas all teachers use classrooms and the toilets in school. Hence driving is clearly not necessary for the job, at least not in the sense that classrooms or toilets are. Because classrooms and toilets are truly necessary for the job, nothing could be achieved by charging teachers for their use, whereas there are reasons, to be discussed shortly, for wanting to charge teachers for parking in school... many of those who do not drive to work may be unable to afford a car, perhaps because they are more junior staff, or in less well-remunerated schemes of service. Even among employees who do the same job and earn the same amount, those who do not own a car may be those who have a lower family income, or more dependants. If these reasonable assumptions hold, free parking would be a regressive benefit because only the more well-off members of the staff can benefit from it, not unlike a staff subsidy for luxury watches or expensive vacations. Even among employees who have a car and are equally well-off, some may not drive to work, for reasons unrelated to their value as an employee; for example, another household member may need the car more, or the employee may find taking public transport less stressful. Even if not outright unfair, it seems at least arbitrary to give a driving employee a parking subsidy without giving a non-driving employee an equivalent amount in public transport subsidies"
From 2016. What they should've done was give all teachers a raise equivalent to the cost of parking
Meme - @PaulSkallas LindyMan: "one of the great things about being with an asian girl is that you don't know if she's good looking or not, and she doesn't know if you're good looking or not. White men can't recognize if an asian women is ugly and vice versa. *Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan*"
Carolina Shiino's Miss Japan win sparks debate on Japanese identity - "A model who was born in Ukraine has been crowned Miss Japan, sparking controversy and reigniting a debate over Japanese identity. Carolina Shiino, 26, won the 2024 Miss Nippon Grand Prix pageant on Monday. The model moved to Japan when she was five and has lived there since, becoming a naturalized citizen in 2022. Shiino said she has as strong a sense of Japanese identity as anyone else, despite not having Japanese heritage... Shiino's crowning triggered a debate over whether she should represent Japan, with some on social media contending that she should not have been selected when she isn't ethnically Japanese, even if she grew up in Japan. Others disagreed, arguing her Japanese citizenship makes her Japanese. Growing up, Shiino said she had difficulty because of the gap between how she is treated because of her foreign appearance and her self-identity as Japanese. But she said working as a model has given her confidence. “I may look different, but I have unwavering confidence that I am Japanese,” she said... In 2015, Ariana Miyamoto became the first biracial person to represent Japan in the Miss Universe contest, leading critics to question whether someone with a mixed racial background should represent Japan."
A lot of people (Americans who don't understand the difference between race and nationality) were upset over this, but these people didn't seem upset when Miss Zimbabwe was white
Ukrainian-born Miss Japan relinquishes crown following alleged affair - "Karolina Shiino, the first person of predominantly European heritage ever to win the Miss Nippon contest (which takes its title from the country’s Japanese name), announced her decision to step down on Monday following local newspaper allegations of an affair with a married man... “If the Miss Nippon contest is based on the concept of beauty, I personally wish that it would be based on standards of Japanese beauty,” historian Hiroe Yamashita wrote on X following Shiino’s victory. “But With Karolina Shiino’s appearance, an (ethnically) Japanese girl has no chance of winning under the modern values of beauty.”"
The left wing anti-Semites keep claiming that Jews are European (i.e. white), and the right wing anti-Semites keeps insisting that they're not
If Japanese beauty standards are unique to Japan, Miss Japan will never win a worldwide competition
Meme Bus full of people decelerating: "Ugly Asian women"
Spider-man holding bus back: "White men"
Oblivious boy with headphones walking: "Asian men"
Meme - "When my wife is asleep I whisper things into her phone that mess with the sponsored ads she sees.
"Free anal bleach kit"
"Gag free numbing gel""
A girl realized that she had grown hair between her legs. She got worried and asked her mom about that hair. : Jokes - "A girl realized that she had grown hair between her legs. She got worried and asked her mom about that hair. Her mom calmly said- "that part where hair has grown is called Monkey, be proud that your monkey has grown hair" the girl smiled. At dinner, she told her sister-"my monkey has grown hair" Her sister smiled and said-"that's nothing, mine is already eating bananas" ."
Consumers willing to pay more if workers get better wages | The Straits Times - "Singaporeans will be willing to fork out that bit more, experts said... A survey by the Ministry of Communications and Information found that 39 per cent of respondents agreed that they were willing to pay more to support low wage workers, and 42 per cent remained neutral."
Trust the experts, even when they have no data to support their claim and the data contradicts it
Meme - "Your hands are strong. But your right hand's much stronger than your left. Why is that?"
"Um, I am a sword fighter."
The Puzzle of Identifying as Chinese - The New York Times - "Much has changed since China began opening up to the world following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. But deeply held cultural beliefs predating that isolationist era persist. These include that laowai, or “old outsiders,” as non-Chinese are often called, are fundamentally different and can therefore never become Chinese, no matter how long their residency, recent books and interviews with writers specializing in cross-cultural issues suggest... “I think the difference is related to this: Can you even accept a foreigner as quite Chinese?” she continued, speaking by telephone from Cambridge, Massachusetts. “To some Chinese people who are quite modern, the answer is yes. But to many, they feel you have to be culturally Chinese, and that’s much deeper than anything you can acquire by yourself.” “As soon as you adopt something for yourself, you’re not Chinese,” she said. “Chineseness does not involve choice.” Many Chinese have become American but few Americans have become Chinese. Of course, unlike the United States, China is not an immigrant nation... Even serious accounts of the lives of foreigners in China, who number probably in the hundreds of thousands, express doubt about assimilation. Take “Their China,” a book published in Chinese by Joy Yue Xi, born in China of Manchurian descent, now living in Canada with her husband and two young children. Out in August, it contains interviews with 18 non-Chinese living here. (Disclosure: I am one of the subjects.) On the cover it says: “They are spectators. And are players. But in the end, they are still spectators.”... “Those words were my publisher’s. I feel it shows a judgment in China about foreigners, but I wouldn’t myself generalize like that. There is some truth to it, but it doesn’t represent all people. But I think it does represent what most Chinese people think.”... If non-Chinese — or not fully Chinese, like Ms. Ma — are not truly accepted, there’s a seemingly contradictory, flip side to the mind-set: Even part-Chinese are not allowed to stop being Chinese... Being a member of the Chinese nation revolves around an idea of a “shared fate,” she said, something the state and many Chinese see as rooted in race and birth. For Ms. Jen, it’s all about identity, whether inherited or invented. In China, she said, it’s mostly inherited, putting foreigners largely beyond the pale. “Even in the U.S.A., there’s a tension between the self that is invented and the self that is inherited,” she said. “But in China, it’s 20 percent of one and 80 percent of another,” whereas in America, “it’s the opposite!”"
That time an actor didn't break character whilst being stabbed - "While the 2004 Punisher movie isn’t exactly a classic, it’s not without its charm and an admirable amount of effort was made to remain as faithful to the source material as possible. A fact that resulted in the casting of Kevin Nash, a wrestler turned actor who was literally stabbed during a fight scene and walked it off like it was nothing... there’s a moment in the fight scene where the Punisher ineffectually stabs the Russian and he just, laughs it off like a badass. A shot that was supposed to be realised with a fake knife that a stagehand forgot to swap out for the real one they were using for closeup shots. Reportedly because they were too busy hitting on a girl off camera, which Nash, amazingly, found quite funny instead of being annoyed about. More important though is that Nash stayed in character while being stabbed and he didn’t even realise that it happened until he glanced down and saw the blood. Here’s the thing though because the story somehow gets more badass because whilst the knife was real, it was altered to make it slightly safer to handle. Which you’d assume would make being stabbed hurt less until you realise that it means Nash stabbed with a blunt knife and didn’t even give a shit. A wound it’s worth noting Nash didn’t have treated at a hospital, instead opting to superglue it shut and finish the scene. As you might expect, Jane was quietly shitting himself about accidentally stabbing a near 7 foot tall man being paid money to manhandle him for a week straight and for the most part, these fears were unfounded and Nash didn’t do anything to get the actor. Well except for knocking him the fuck out by throwing him through a brick wall. Then again, we’ve all been there."
Staples ServiceOntario: Locations to open Feb. - "The new centres are part of a three-year pilot program launched by Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government with the aim of bettering customer service and increasing convenience... “Not everyone can make it into one of the outlets from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” he said. “It’s pretty simple. It comes down to customer service.” According to the sample hours of the new centres provided by the government, the new locations will open at 9 a.m. and close between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays. On Saturdays they will be open between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m... The government has said that putting ServiceOntario kiosks inside Staples retail stores will save taxpayers about $900,000 over three years... the cost differences are primarily from the leases, they say are covered through a funding arrangement with the province. Officials said they were able to negotiate with Staples Canada to get the leasing costs down to a level that enables savings."
Of course, political partisans don't care and just want to hate on Doug Ford, even if he's saving taxpayers money. They also hate the private sector, so this must be bad
TIL in 1995, a US chat show had guests meeting their secret admirer. But didn't tell them their admirer was the of the same gender. One guest was so upset to learn another man had a crush on him, he murdered him 3 day later. : todayilearned
Revealing Same Sex Secret Crush - Wikipedia - "Amedure's family subsequently filed a negligence lawsuit against The Jenny Jones Show. The court ultimately found that the producers could not reasonably anticipate a murder resulting from Amedure and Schmitz's appearance on the show."
Canada's quiet descent into neofeudalism - "Canada’s real GDP per capita, a measure of economic activity per individual, has barely budged—and may be lower at the end of 2024 than in 2015. It means Canada has the poorest performance in the G7 and the second lowest among 35 OECD “wealthy” countries. Grimly, in 2022 the OECD predicted a generation-long stagnation, estimating this country would have the slowest per capita growth rate of members through 2060. It should be unsurprising that Canada’s housing crisis and economic stagnation have occurred at the same time. The escalating cost of housing takes disposable income from the economy and stifles entrepreneurial activity by reducing risk-taking. No wonder Canadians are starting businesses at the lowest rate in decades... The outcome is a regulatory system developed in collaboration with existing economic winners that justify new rules as “in the public interest” but instead create barriers to entry for competition. This process, called “regulatory capture,” has far-reaching effects on the Canadian economy. It has led to an environment that is counterproductive to innovation, equitable growth, investment, and our long-term prosperity. Canada’s innovation and productivity hurdles, often attributed to a “conservative business culture,” are more accurately the result of decisions by rational actors in sectors insulated from competition. This “risk-averse” attitude and reluctance to invest are not inherent but stem from a lack of competitive necessity. There’s little incentive for businesses to undertake risky capital-intensive investments when their peers are equally reliably cautious and the threat from new entrants is low. This also explains the hesitancy of large Canadian firms to partner with domestic startups, unlike their American counterparts who actively engage with new ideas to stay ahead competitively. Furthermore, the excuse of Canada’s “small domestic market” is similarly misleading. As the world’s 9th largest economy by nominal GDP with extensive trade agreements, Canada’s “small market” is instead a by-product of self-imposed constraints and regulatory barriers that protect domestic industries. For instance, inter-provincial trade barriers that exist due largely to the influence of special interest groups are estimated to raise the cost of goods by seven percent, impeding our economy’s full potential. Thus, Canada’s challenges in productivity and investment are not a result of a “conservative business mindset,” but rather a consequence of rational choices in private industry dominated by economic fiefdoms awarded by the government... One study by the University of California, Berkeley, found that restrictive housing policies in just New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area, home to a mere 9 percent of the American population, slashed national income by 36 percent over 45 years. Translated to Canada, it amounts to a staggering annual loss of over $19,000 for the average Canadian worker. Given that the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas account for over 30 percent of Canada’s population, coupled with the accelerating exodus of top talent to the United States, the economic toll on the country could be more severe."
The left wingers keep obsessing about taxing the rich (and when they say that, they mean taxing them until they're no longer rich). But when the pie is not growing but shrinking, eventually you run out of wealth to seize. And then you can go on blaming capitalism
Meme - "I spent 3400$ to commision a sexbot based on Greta. Its being constructed by a Japanese company. She will be here in 2 more months. I am going to rent her out on craiglist for 300$ a night. So hot. the best part is her volce is now programmable. I am goign to tech her to say: "Dump your carbon In me Daddy", "And I dont even have to shave It* , "Stop teasing, they are NOT misquito bites" , and of course when anally penetrated she will exclaim "How dare you." Also she will have her nipples plerced, and a tongue stud. This Is the endgame dude. They will all be turned into Al sexbots."
Meme (2 more photos of the doll)
Meme - "Hill: Applebees is the #1 restaurant in the world. With nearly 2,000 restaurants worldwide- you can find your favorite appetizer deals all across flat Earth. Applebees provides an incredible casual feel yet fine dining experience with a focus on high-end quality meals prepared by highly skilled chefs. Its fun and exciting atmosphere makes it a great place for everyone. Night out with the boys? Applebees. Kid just won the big sports game? Applebees. Got a girl you really want to impress? Put on your Sundays best and take her to Applebees. The 2 for $25 is the perfect option for a first date. (Especially if you have a leftover gift card from Christmas!) You just can't go wrong with eatin' good in the neighborhood. Choose Applebees. (This is not a paid advertisement. I just really like Applebees)"
Joss Whedon and writing what you know - "Back when "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" was on TV, I couldn't help but notice that none of the relationships in the series went well. It didn't matter what the context, they all went south. Okay, it was a show about angsty teenagers, but the spin-off went the same way. So did "Firefly," both on the show and in the subsequent movie. Now I get the value of having drama and working long-term relationships can be awfully dull, but there is some use in having a stable romantic relationship as a baseline which can operate in contrast to the other tormented ones. Whedon never did this, and I always wondered why. Subsequently we learned that his relationship with his wife was rather difficult. Not only that, but apparently he had a casting couch and used it frequently. Setting aside his blatant hypocrisy in claiming to be a feminist while exploiting his talent for sexual gain and degrading his long-suffering wife, I think this is the key to understanding why the relationships in his work ended up the way they did. Put simply, he didn't know what a good relationship looked like and apparently couldn't imagine one, either. When he did have one (in "Firefly") he killed off one of the characters. Even happiness became unhappy."
Vavilovian mimicry - Wikipedia - "a weed evolves to share one or more characteristics with a domesticated plant through generations of artificial selection... Rye was originally just a weed growing with wheat and barley, but came under similar selective pressures to the crops. Like wheat, it came to have larger seeds and more rigid spindles to which the seeds are attached... This fate is shared by oats (Avena sativa and Avena byzantina), which also tolerate poorer conditions, and like rye, grow as a weed alongside wheat and barley. Derived from a wild species (Avena sterilis), it has thus come to be a crop in its own right."
Meme - "I just heard two kids playing outside and one goes
'I do not fear the dark side'
then another kid goes
'YOU SHOULD'
and then I just hear a WHACK noise and then crying"
"That is the sound of childhood happening"
Clearly "bullying". Time to "protect" children from this, then worry why they cannot be functional adults
‘Hostility against Sharia is hostility against Islam," says Turkey’s Erdoğan - "“If you look at history books, you will see that Turk equals Muslim,” Erdoğan asserted and criticized any notion that sought to build “artificial walls” between the two. He continued, “A definition of Turkishness without the inclusion of Islam’s holy war spirit is merely an attempt to turn the Turkish nation into a folklore tale.” Erdoğan suggested the unidentified enemy’s goal was to “disrupt the fabric of society, and occupy the castle they have surrounded.” "Shariaphobia" was yet another step in this scheme, the President opined. “Sharia represents the entirety of Islam’s rules on life,” Erdoğan said and warned against who “dared to criticize” it. Ignorance was at the root of the fearlessness against Sharia, according to Erdoğan, who felt sorrow to see a section of society drowning in this “darkness of ignorance.”"
Mild Islamism strikes again!
Since opposing Sharia is Islamophobic, what does this suggest about other claims of "Islamophobia"?
Meme - sword girlfriend @punishedgarage: "When guys show u a youtube video, u have to understand that's a sign of great respect in their culture"
Meme - "My printer is threatening me"
"HP SMART
You're low on ink
Never run low on ink again"
Japanese Man, 35, Has 4 Wives And 2 Girlfriends, Hasn’t Worked In 10 Years As He Lives Off Them - "People, mostly men, generally get offended when they are accused of living off their spouses. That’s not the case for 35-year-old Watanabe Ryuta, a self-professed expert when it comes to mooching off his four wives and two girlfriends... Ryuta basically plays the role of a househusband. He is in charge of preparing everyone's meals, doing household chores, and looking after his kids... Ryuta said he “simply likes women”. “When I realised that, we were already living in such an arrangement. As long as we all love each other equally, there wouldn't be an issue,” he said. The wives who live with him have their own rooms, and he takes turns to sleep with a different wife every night. His goal is to break the record for having the most kids in Japan. Japanese Shogun Tokugawa Ienari, who lived in the late 1700s to early 1800s, is the record to beat. He is said to have a 53 children. Ryuta said: “I want to overtake him. As such, I want to have 54 children, so my name can go down in history. I am still searching for a new wife.”... Despite Ryuta’s plans for a massive family, there are legal limitations he has to deal with. Japan’s marriage laws do not allow for polygamy, and Ryuta cannot be legally married to more than one woman at a time. He marries whomever is next in line to become his wife, then divorces her so he is legally able to wed the next woman again. Ryuta, his wife, and his “ex-wives” then live together, following the rules of “an actual marriage”."