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Monday, September 13, 2021

Links - 13th September 2021 (2)

Local undergrad blogger cyberbullied and called a 'bimbo' - "In 2010, it was reported that Singapore ranks just behind the US for cyberbullying incidents per capita... It began with a blog post penned by 22-year-old undergraduate Jeraldine Phneah, written after studying ahead for a Nanyang Technological University (NTU) course which she is enrolled for... Her post was later taken by fellow NTU student Lim Jialiang and shared on his Facebook profile.Netizens began mocking Miss Phneah's opinions on Mr Lim's profile, with some comments soon spiralling into racist remarks and personal attacks involving her looks and intellect... Feeling victimised, she approached her school for help and as a result, two of his professors spoke to him, says Miss Phneah. After that, Mr Lim apologised on Facebook.Intending to lay the matter to rest, she wrote a private note to him on the same platform to thank him.Little did she know that the move would prompt a fresh debate and bigger outcry as he re-posted her note, attracting a flood of comments from netizens who slammed her for going to the school for help.Of particular interest was one which was purportedly by Mr Vincent Wijeysingha, who used to be part of the Singapore Democratic Party and is currently a social worker.His comments apparently were: "No, civil society is not easily offended, only some silly self-absorbed bloggers like Jeraldine Bimbo Popiah." He continued: "Yes, boys and girls, bimbo. B-I-M-B-O. The quality or function of being a totally self-absorbed twit with the intellectual capacity of a popiah and the social grace of a dengue mosquito. Bimbo. B-I-M-B-O"."

Netizen calls out civil servant for attacking WP's Jamus Lim on minimum wage policy; demands apology - "Lim Jialiang, beer distributor and former chocolatier, took to Twitter to point out how a civil servant has been attacking the Workers’ Party (WP) MP-elect for Sengkang GRC Jamus Lim over a post he made on Facebook on the same day in which he defended his party’s minimum wage policy presented in their manifesto... A follow up tweet also included a screenshot of Mr Hu’s LinkedIn profile showing that he works with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). The linked in profile has since been removed, but his title there was listed as “manager (policy)”. A couple of days later, Mr Lim followed up his Twitter thread with a longer post on his Facebook page detailing how he noticed Mr Hu’s comments on the MP-elect’s post and what he found about the civil servant.Mr Lim noted, “There were also statements from Hu Ching that suggested that he was involved in policymaking and that he found Jamus’ proposal of a minimum wage un-viable in Singapore (without really providing any supporting evidence).”... Addressing Mr Hu directly, Mr Lim said, “Hu Ching, you’ve made your bed, so sleep in it. If you want to troll, own it. Apologise for your behaviour, let people see your foolishness, and make genuine amends. That’s the best way to make internet controversy go away.”"
I guess it takes a troll to know one
Doxxing is good

Facebook - ""This generation must contend with the fact that their words on any social media platform will never go away. They might have been in a place of anger and frustration, and said something that can be misconstrued, and used as a line of attack. We have all been there. We have all said unwise words, made unkind gestures. No one should be strung up for it." This from Lim Jialiang on 6 July 2020 when he participated in this Twittermob against me barely 4 days ago, and despite his claimed noble stance, did nothing to try to stop it."

Legislator’s first speech is a barnburner as he tells colleagues to “Be gay. Do crime.” - "Ricardo Menéndez March’s maiden speech to New Zealand’s House of Representatives was a barnburner as he exhorted his colleagues to “Be gay. Do crime.”A self-described “transgressive queer socialist,” the young member of parliament (MP) emigrated from Mexico and is part of a wave of diverse legislators elected in 2020. “I want to start by acknowledging everybody who has had to lie to work and come to survive,” Menéndez March started. “In our queer community, there’s a saying I love that goes, ‘Be gay. Do crime.’ And to me, it means to be transgressive, to acknowledge the decision makers who created rules that criminalize our survival and our existence.” Menéndez March’s first speech lasted 15 minutes and outlined a solidly progressive worldview as he called out the country’s colonial history and political domination by white straight cisgender people. “The rules were simply not made for us. They were made to uphold a system where the wealthy few keep getting richer at the expense of our planet. And this House is enabling it.”New Zealand now has the queerest Parliament in the world with LGBTQ people making up 10% of the membership. His speech was met with applause and hugs."
Naturally, even New Zealand 2020 is too oppressive for him, so he needs to destroy the country

Being Classically Liberal - Posts | Facebook
This thread is very interesting. Greta Thunberg says you shouldn't buy stuff you don't need, and many people (apparently Americans) get upset and many proclaim that they will spite her by buying even more stuff they don't need. This is a revealing insight into the American psyche, and suggests that many Americans aren't short of money because the rich have rigged the game and most of them don't earn money, but because of their unwise spending habits

Stimulus checks are being spent on dildos, tigers, guns and stripper poles

This Snail's Venom Mimics Pheromones to Lure Prey With Sex - "There are over 700 species of cone snails, and they all pack an overwhelming array of venoms to immobilize their prey, from paralyzing neurotoxins to insulin-imitating molecules. New research shows that they have another trick up their proboscis: chemicals that mimic a marine worm’s mating pheromone."
The only folly of man is women

For 15 Years Sweden Thought Enemy Submarines Were Invading Its Territory. It Turned Out To Be Herring Farts

In 1866, 80 men went to war — this is why 81 came home - "[Liechtenstein's] final deployment in 1866 remains notorious for two reasons: first, they lost no battles and suffered zero casualties (having avoided all fighting). Second, they left with a force of 80 men — and returned home with 81... According to The World at War, an Austrian liaison officer joined them. Lonely Planet seems to share a version naming the newcomer an “Italian friend” — other sources have suggested that he was a defector.None of the stories seem to be substantiated — but no one has debunked them either."

Verbal intelligence is correlated with socially and economically liberal beliefs - "Research has consistently shown that intelligence is positively correlated with socially liberal beliefs and negatively correlated with religious beliefs. This should lead one to expect that Republicans are less intelligent than Democrats. However, I find that individuals who identify as Republican have slightly higher verbal intelligence than those who identify as Democrat (2–5 IQ points), and that individuals who supported the Republican Party in elections have slightly higher verbal intelligence than those who supported the Democratic Party (2 IQ points). I reconcile these findings with the previous literature by showing that verbal intelligence is correlated with both socially and economically liberal beliefs (β = .10–.32). My findings suggest that higher intelligence among classically liberal Republicans compensates for lower intelligence among socially conservative Republicans."

Super-intelligent AI will inevitably escape our control - "Artificial intelligence that's smarter than us could potentially solve problems beyond our grasp.
AI that are self-learning can absorb whatever information they need from the internet, a Pandora's Box if ever there was one.
The nature of computing itself prevents us from limiting the actions of a super-intelligent AI if it gets out of control...
The most obvious way to keep a super intelligent AI from getting ahead of us is to limit its access to information by preventing it from connecting to the internet. The problem with limiting access to information, though, is that it would make any problem we assign the AI more difficult for it to solve. We would be weakening its problem-solving promise possibly to a point of uselessness.The second approach that might be taken is to limit what a super-intelligent AI is capable of doing by programming into it certain boundaries. This might be akin to writer Isaac Asimov's Laws of Robotics, the first of which goes: "A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm."Unfortunately, says the study, a series of logical tests reveal that it's impossible to create such limits. Any such a containment algorithm, it turns out, would be self-defeating. "If you break the problem down to basic rules from theoretical computer science, it turns out that an algorithm that would command an AI not to destroy the world could inadvertently halt its own operations. If this happened, you would not know whether the containment algorithm is still analyzing the threat, or whether it has stopped to contain the harmful AI. In effect, this makes the containment algorithm unusable."... The Planck researchers also concluded that a similar bit of logic makes it impossible for us to know when a self-learning computer's intelligence has come to exceed our own. Essentially, we're not smart enough to be able to develop tests for intelligence superior to ours... In the end, we're left with a dangerous bargain to make or not make: Do we risk our safety in exchange for the possibility that AI will solve problems we can't?"

Facebook - "I am beyond disgusted with the #Grammys and the new generation. How is it possible that Pepe Le Pew, Dr. Suess, Dumbo, Space Jam, aristocrats etc can be canceled but a scantily clad female can sing WAP at the #GRAMMYS2021. Wth am I missing? She says the N word during her performance, she scissors with another female, and her song is about a wet ass pussy.. but this is ok? WTF america wake the f up! I do not support this (lack of) culture and I never will."

Kids Are More Likely To See Cardi B Grinding On A Pole Than Dumbo or Peter Pan. What Could Go Wrong? - "Media members couldn’t celebrate the performance more enthusiastically if they tried. CNN’s Chloe Melas described it as a “very sex-positive performance.” “They gloriously twerked and strutted and owned the stage in Barbarella-esque outfits, referencing female empowerment, sexual pride and delivering undoubtedly one of the most memorable Grammy performances of all time”... For those who aren’t aware, the song’s message begins with the lines “I said, certified freak, seven days a week, wet-a** p**** make that pull-out game weak,” and only continues to further demonstrate its Shakespearean lyrical genius. “Bring a bucket and a mop for this wet-a** p****,” “Spit in my mouth, look in my eyes, this p**** is wet, come take a dive,” and “Gobble me, swallow me, drip down the side of me,” are just a few highlights. Perhaps rivaling only Oscar Wilde in terms of creative artistry, the masterpiece ends with “There’s some whores in this house. There’s some whores in this house.”These lines were delivered as Cardi B gyrated on a stripper pole, before joining Megan Thee Stallion on a bed to writhe around, mimicking sexual acts. While conservatives are mocked for their “pearl clutching,” it’s important to understand that the issue here is not necessarily the content of the “song,” or even the manner in which it was performed. The problem is the context of the society in which it is lauded. WAP, which if you haven’t already guessed is an acronym for “Wet A** P****,” exists in a world which celebrates such performances as expressions of “sex positivity” and “female empowerment.” This is the same world which now seeks to erase certain Dr. Seuss books for apparently portraying people in “ways that are hurtful and wrong,” in which Disney hides Peter Pan and Dumbo from children due to “outdated” depictions, and in which French cartoon skunks are canceled for perpetuating “rape culture.”"

A Rare Menu That Tells the Truth: The Pork? Greasy. The Beef? Meh. - The New York Times - "Feigang Fei doesn’t like to boast about the orange beef at his restaurant in downtown Montreal. As a matter of fact, he doesn’t much like it.“Comparing to our General Tao Chicken, this one is not THAT good,” reads the description on the online menu of his restaurant, Cuisine AuntDai, under a glossy photo of the deep-fried beef. “Anyway, I am not big fan of North American Chinese food and it’s your call.”He’s no more enthused about the braised pork belly. “This is a very popular dish among the customers who don’t care its greasiness,” the menu says. And Mr. Fei warns against ordering a cold dish called Mouth-watering chicken, made with diced chicken cubes, vinegar and Sichuan peppercorn sauce. “We are not 100% satisfied with the flavor now and it will get better really soon,” the menu advises, before quickly adding: “PS: I am surprised that some customers still order this plate.” In the past, Mr. Fei’s unremitting candor has gotten him into trouble. When he worked in information technology and told colleagues that their computer networks weren’t that great, he was advised to be more diplomatic.But ever since an admiring customer posted AuntDai’s menu on Twitter on Jan. 10, extolling its “extremely honest” owner, he can barely keep up with demand for his takeout meals... The menu’s description of AuntDai’s modest house salad raises issues of identity. “The Chinese name of this dish is called ‘tiger’s vegetable,’” it reads. “I don’t know why it’s called that name. A lot of Chinese people know this dish, but I don’t. Maybe I am not so Chinese.” One of the menu’s running themes is Mr. Fei’s skepticism of North American-style Chinese food, which he finds cloying and overreliant on frying. But he acknowledged that North American fast food is one of his guilty pleasures, including poutine, the trouser-busting dish of French fries, cheese curds and gravy that is beloved in Quebec... Mr. Fei said he drew up the menu several years ago out of frustration with customers who returned dishes because they were too spicy, or “not what they expected.”"

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